Just a Normal Coffee Shop
by 0TheCluster0
Summary: It's just a normal Monday at the coffee shop. Lapis is bored. Peridot is having endless struggles with the wi-fi. And Steven is super nervous for his date with Connie. He feels like he's forgotten something— something very important... (Nah, it's probably just nerves, after all.)
1. Hot Chocolate

**Chapter One: Hot Chocolate **

It was Monday, June 19th. The sunlight was bright and cheery as _The Morning Brew_ cafe's door chimed.

"Good morning!" Steven announced, waving at everyone. He walked up to the counter, eyes barely scanning the menu. "Could I have a grande hot chocolate with extra whip cream?"

"Your usual, huh?" said Sadie with a grin.

Steven paid with the twenty-five cents in his pocket, and settled down at a chair nearby to wait. The cafe was pretty empty today. Peaceful. The only other people there were Lapis and Peridot, at their usual table by the window— Lapis was writing steadily in her notebook, while Peridot glowered at her computer screen.

Despite the quiet, Steven couldn't help but bounce his leg anxiously.

"Nervous?" asked a voice from a nearby table.

"Greg!" Steven jumped a little. "What are you doing here?"

"Just having a coffee," Greg said, taking a long sip from his mug in demonstration.

"You're here to spy on my date, aren't you?!" Steven accused.

"Aha! So it _is_ a date!" said Greg, victoriously.

Steven flushed, sinking deeper into the chair. There was no point denying it.

"Eh, about time," said Greg. "You two have been dancing around each other for so long, I was wondering if you'd ever actually do it. So, who asked out who?"

" _Daaaaaad_ ," Steven moaned.

"Don't worry, I won't interfere. Unless you need me." Greg winked. "Consider me your 'Ultimate Wingman'."

Steven smiled. Okay, this was definitely embarrassing, but… it was nice to know he had people who cared about him enough to look out for him like that. And maybe having someone nearby in case the date went wrong _would_ be a good idea.

"Any tips?" he asked.

" _Dozens_ ," said Greg. "Admittedly, most of mine involve becoming a rock star first, but I'm sure we can find a couple that are relevant to you two."

Greg began to share a few— don't get nervous, be yourself, act casual _—_ when Lars appeared by the table, handing Steven his drink.

"I hate Mondays," Lars moaned.

"Oh, they're not so bad," Steven said. "Thanks, Lars."

Lars just rolled his eyes and stalked off. Steven smiled at him, undeterred. He knew it was just an act. And anyway, nobody made better hot chocolate than Lars. He took a long, deep sip, sighing with contentment. Sweet, rich, creamy, with a delicious drizzling of syrup and cinnamon on top— so perfect, it was almost unreal.

The conversation continued, Steven making good headway into his drink, when he remembered to check his phone. It was almost 11:15 AM. He nearly fell out of the chair. He'd lost track of the time.

"You gotta hide," he told Greg, "she'll be here any second—"

Right on cue, the bell at the door chimed. There was Connie, tucking her hair behind her ears as she entered.

She was beautiful.

She looked the same as always— and of course, he'd liked her since he'd first saw her on their first day in college, right before he turned twelve. But now, Steven felt truly struck by how beautiful she was. With her long black hair, her warm brown skin, her pale green dress. Her eyes behind her glasses, wide and curious and nervous—

His heart hammered in his chest. He had never been this nervous around her before, but this was different. This was their first real date, after all. Things were going to be different now. He didn't want to ruin their friendship.

He waved Connie over and stood up, pulling out a chair for her.

"Hey Steven," Connie smiled as she sat down.

"Hey," he grinned, returning to his seat. "Did you have any trouble getting here?"

"N-not really," Connie replied, nervously chewing her lip.

Steven looked down at his drink. The pair sat in silence for what felt like an eternity before Steven cleared his throat. Connie looked up at him and smiled.

"Here, um… Let me grab a menu. They have some really good pastries here you might like," Steven smiled as he walked to the counter.

As he grabbed the menus, his hands started to shake.

 _Hold it together, Steven,_ he told himself before he sat back down across from Connie. He snuck a quick glance at Greg, who'd retreated to the back of the cafe. Catching Steven's eyes, Greg shot him a quick thumbs up.

"So, I really like their cinnamon rolls, but their coffee cake is pretty good," Steven started.

"What do you usually get?" Connie asked, playing with her hair.

Steven stared at Connie's shy smile. His heart skipped a beat and his mouth went dry. He searched for the right words, but they refused to come out.

 _Come on Steven! You talk to her all the time! Say something!_

"Uh…"

"Hi," Sadie greeted as she walked up to their table. "What will you be having today?"

"I'll have whatever he's having," Connie smiled.

"O-Okay," Steven stammered, confused. Connie was usually more decisive than this. She was probably just nervous too. "I'll have the… uh…"

"How about I just bring you the usual?" Sadie smirked.

"Y-yeah. I'll take that," Steven nodded.

"All right. Two strawberry scones and a grande hot chocolate with whipped cream, coming up!" Sadie laughed before returning to the counter.

Steven returned his attention to Connie, who was still shyly playing with her hair.

"So… How are classes going?" Steven asked.

"Okay," Connie stated. "I might be taking a few too many classes this semester, but you know how it is," she chuckled.

Steven smiled, relaxing a little.

"Yeah," he started. "I'm glad you were able to come today though. I mean…"

He looked into Connie's eyes and nearly lost himself. He couldn't believe they were actually on a date. He couldn't believe she had said _yes_ to this. It was everything he had ever wanted.

Sadie delivering the food to their table snapped Steven out of his stupor. He was embarrassed at first, but she didn't seem to mind.

"So…" he began. How did people usually start dates? By getting to know the person, right? But that didn't make sense with Connie: they already knew each other so well. He couldn't just throw out a question like 'What's your favourite animal?' (falcon) or 'What do you do in your spare time?' (fencing). What came out instead was, "You look really nice today!"

Her face flushed, and judging by the warmth in his own cheeks, Steven was sure he was blushing too.

"Thanks," said Connie. "You look cute too."

"Ah, well… I'm just wearing the same thing I do every day."

"Still cute," said Connie, ducking her head. She fiddled with the napkin on her plate.

Steven summoned a surge of bravery, and reached out, placing his hand over hers.

Connie's eyes brightened. Then she responded in kind, grabbing his free hand in hers. It was warm and soft beneath the callouses.

There they sat in the coffee shop— surrounded by the smell of coffee and chocolate, the quiet rustle of pages and tap of keyboard keys— hand in hand. Steven thought he'd never been happier.

He wished this moment could last forever.


	2. Iced Coffee

**Chapter Two: Iced Coffee  
**

It was Monday, June 19th. There was a light overcast as it drizzled outside.

"G-good morning!" Steven exclaimed with a moment's hesitation as he walked in. He wasn't sure why, but he felt an odd sense of discomfort saying it...

He shook his head. Nevermind. He figured he was just nervous. After all, today was a big day.

He strolled up to the counter and smiled at Sadie.

"Can I have a..." Steven considered for a minute, briefly glancing at the menu. "Um... an iced coffee with extra caramel. No whipped cream?"

"Your usual, huh?" said Sadie with a grin.

Steven felt a sour feeling in his gut again. Not sure why. He was just ordering what he always got.

"Y-yep," Steven said. He paid with the twenty-five cents in his pocket, sat down, and waited.

He looked around. Peridot and Lapis were sitting at their window table as usual. Peridot was angrily mashing the keys of her laptop, while Lapis had her spiral notebook out. Greg stood next to her, chatting about something.

Steven smiled. He was glad to see his best friend and roommate Greg having fun with his other friends. It cheered him out of the odd mood he was in just as Lars walked up and handed Steven his drink.

"I hate Mondays," Lars said.

Upon hearing that though, the butterflies in Steven's stomach returned with intensity.

"Y-yeah, no kidding," Steven said.

He took a sip of his hot chocolate. It tasted perfect. Sweet, rich, and creamy.

Like always

oOoOo

"This Wi-Fi is trash," Peridot said, angrily tapping on the touchpad. "I can't pull up anything! How will I stream _Camp Pining Hearts_ now?"

Lapis looked up from her notebook.

"There are ways you can entertain yourself without the internet, Peridot," she said.

"Lies," Peridot said. "Lies and falsehoods!"

Greg chuckled in the corner. Peridot rolled her eyes at him.

"Go ahead, laugh it up!" Peridot shouted. She looked up, just now noticing her friend Steven sitting down in the cafe as well. She would have said "hi" to him if she wasn't so enraged at the lack of internet. Instead, she glanced back at Greg. "Why don't you just... go bother your offspring over there, Greg?"

"Don't you mean 'roommate'?" said Lapis, as she went back to writing in her notebook.

"Yes, whatever. That's what I said!" said Peridot. "Just leave me. _Leave me in my despair_!"

Greg, still grinning, wordlessly left and went over to his son's table, where Steven was checking his phone and muttering something about it being past noon.

"So you send away Greg to stop bothering us and now you're just staring at Steven," Lapis said, an eyebrow raised at Peridot. "Okay."

Peridot pouted.

"Well, if I can't watch my web-streamed entertainment, I might as well be amused by the boring, mundane lives of those around me," she said. "Speaking of boring and mundane..." She glanced over at Lapis. "What are you writing?"

"Screw you."

"Is that a promise?"

Lapis smiled.

"It's just poetry."

"Ah yes," Peridot said. "Very hipster of you."

" _Philistine_."

"Do you even know what that means?"

"Do _you_ even know what hipster means?"

Peridot narrowed her eyes from behind her glasses.

"I don't have to listen to these wild allegations!" she yelled. "I'm a certified engineer!"

"You're not certified in anything. You're still in school."

Peridot blinked. "Well, I..." she started, but nothing followed. Lapis was right, she realized— not that she'd admit that.

"You can't think of a response. I win," Lapis said.

Peridot waved her off, then sighed. She turned her attention back to the rest of the cafe. Connie, another friend from college, had just walked in. Greg had stopped chatting with Steven and moved to another table once he noticed as well.

"Looks like Steven's on a date with Connie," Peridot said. "I suppose watching this will do in lieu of Camp Pining Hearts."

"Nothing at all creepy about that," Lapis mumbled. Her pencil scratched against her paper. "Why do you even stream that show so much, anyway? We've already seen every episode."

"I like to look for new details each time," Peridot said, her eyes still on Steven and Connie. Steven pulled out the chair for Connie. "Oooh, I wonder what Steven's gonna do this time..."

"You're a weirdo."

"You hang out with me. You chose this life."

Lapis snorted. Peridot kept her eyes trained on Steven and Connie. Everything seemed to be going perfectly fine.

 _Just like always,_ she thought.

Peridot shook her head, getting that strange thought out of her mind. But before she could dwell on it, she heard Steven raise his voice.

"No really, Connie! This is super weird!" he said, getting to his feet. "I know it doesn't make any sense, but I feel like we've done this befo—"

Before Steven could continue, Connie leaned forward and planted a kiss on his lips. Steven's eyes grew as wide as saucers for a moment, before he closed them, clearly enjoying the sensation.

Peridot suddenly realized Lapis had stopped writing and was watching the couple as well.

"Oh wow," Lapis said with a smile. "Way to go, Steven."

But Peridot could only stare blankly.

"Wait a minute... _That wasn't supposed to happen_!" Peridot said, before she could stop herself.

Lapis turned to Peridot, stunned.

"What are you talking about?" Lapis said, a hint of agitation in her voice. "Steven's liked Connie since they were kids."

" _They_ **are** _kids_!"

"Yeah."

"No, no, I mean..." Peridot's mind was racing faster than she could articulate. Her thoughts were jumbled, disjointed. It made no logical sense, she was only going by what she instinctively wanted to say. "I mean, this isn't how it usually happens! This is different!"

Lapis's face creased with worry. "I think you've been watching too many Camp Pining Hearts reruns."

"No, I'm not, Lapis! And that's not the poi—" Peridot froze mid-gesture when the word 'reruns' clicked in her mind.

She looked around, registering only then that she had been speaking way louder than she had intended. Steven had jerked away from the kiss and was staring at her.

But not just him. Connie was looking at Peridot, a serene smile planted on her face. At the counter, the baristas Lars and Sadie were staring as well, with the exact same smile painted on. Even Greg in the far corner had his eyes on her, also with the same placid expression.

It was unsettling.

"Why are you all staring like that?" Peridot said loudly. "That's not normal! AND THIS IS _ME_ SAYING THAT! IT'S—"


	3. Wintermelon Iced Tea

**Chapter Three: Wintermelon Iced Tea**

It was Monday, June 19th.

The weather outside was so sweltering that, even from her seat, Pearl could see the steam coming off the asphalt. Thankfully, the air conditioning inside _Bean There Done That_ Cafe was heavenly, so several customers (including herself) had made it a refuge from the heat. Greg was seated some distance away, busily reading a newspaper while sipping his coffee. Near the door, a pair of college students were engaged in an intense whispered conversation, their cakes forgotten on the table.

That was until the blue-haired one stood up and approached Pearl.

"Are you a regular here?" the blue-haired stranger bluntly asked. "I feel like I've seen you before."

"Ah, no. Not really," Pearl curtly replied. "I just came in to get out of the heat."

"Oh. Okay." She went back to her seat and promptly resumed the hushed discussion with her bespectacled, spiky-haired partner.

Pearl wanted to feel annoyed at that, but she couldn't help smiling when she heard the door chime and saw Steven rush in while frantically fanning himself with both hands. He was her closest friend at the college, at least among the people of the rock music department of geological engineering.

"Good morning!" he greeted everyone, before shuffling over to the counter. "Hi, Sadie. I'll have an extra extra large wintermelon milk tea. On the rocks, please. I was melting out there."

"Your usual, huh?" chirped Sadie as she wrote something on a plastic cup.

"And maybe an extra serving of tapioca— Pearl?" Steven had noticed her watching him, so she gave a little wave.

"Hello, Steven."

He handed Sadie a quarter for the drink, then headed over to Pearl's table. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, just having some pie and tea while working on this very important essay." Pearl nodded to the laptop open in front of her. "It's due tomorrow."

Steven looked at the laptop over her shoulder, only to find a blank word document staring back at him.

"You're just here to spy on my date with Connie, aren't you?" he grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Me? Spy on you? Pfft! T-That's—" Pearl laughed. A high, hysterical laugh that was so painfully fake. "That's ridiculous, that's what it is!"

He raised an incredulous eyebrow at her. "Pearl..."

"Okay, fine." She sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. "But I'm really not here to spy on _you_. It's just a happy coincidence that you're having your first date in the same cafe where she— Ah!" Blushing furiously, Pearl ducked until only the top half of her head peeked over the laptop.

Steven followed Pearl's gaze to one of the baristas who had just arrived to work. She was tall, broad shouldered, and had her pink hair up in a loose ponytail.

"'She' _her_?" Steven asked. "Who is she?"

"Nobody!" said Pearl, a little too quickly. Then she dramatically pointed at the window. "Oh look, Connie's here!"

Outside, Connie was indeed crossing the street and heading towards the cafe.

"What?! She's early!" Steven yelped. He even took out his phone to double check the time. But when he saw the screen of his phone, he visibly paled. "4:40PM? That can't be right."

"Didn't you say you're meeting her at five? I'd say she's right on time." Pearl playfully slapped him on the back. "So chin up, Steven! No need to be so nervous, I'm sure you'll do fine. And anyway, if you do need some, ah, _assistance_ on your date for whatever reason, I'm going to be here all morning. I could be your 'Ultimate Wingman'!"

Steven chuckled and rolled his eyes at her in the most endearing manner. "Aww. Thanks, Pearl."

As if on cue, Lars arrived at their table with a tray of drinks on one hand and a plate of apple pie on the other. He put down a steaming teapot, a grande cup, and the pie plate beside Pearl's laptop.

"I hate Mondays," he grumbled before leaving.

"Hang in there, bud," Steven called after him. He then gave a brief nod to Pearl, grabbed the hot chocolate grande, and then headed to an empty table.

The door chimed again as Connie entered the cafe, not even sparing a glance at Pearl. Her eyes were only for Steven. Smiling serenely, she sat down beside him, and they started chatting. Pearl couldn't hear anything from their exchange— not that she wanted to eavesdrop on their date— so she just shrugged and let her attention drift elsewhere.

Her eyes fell on a lovely barista behind the counter, the one with pink hair and a smile so gorgeous, it caused hearts to skip a beat or ten. She was wearing a white dress shirt that hugged around the contours of her body, her full chest quite noticeable despite the black apron over it. She was preparing a drink for another customer— probably an iced coffee, given that she was using a cocktail shaker— and Pearl couldn't help but notice how the thin fabric of her sleeves stretched, almost ripping, every time her biceps flexed with each shake. Neither could she help wondering how it would feel to wrap her fingers around those strong, well defined arms and— Ahh, what she wouldn't give to have those arms at either side of her head, their faces closing in on each other until they met lips against lips, body against body, skin against...

Pearl slapped her own cheeks with both hands, mortified at herself. How could she ogle someone who was just trying to work in peace? That was highly inappropriate! Oh what would _she_ think of her now?

She vigorously shook her head to derail mind off that train of thought. She also might as well distract herself with tea and pie before they both got cold. Her fingers curled around the warm handle of the teapot, lifting it up to pour herself a cup. As the dark steaming liquid swirled inside the porcelain, the fragrance of cinnamon wafted to her nose. Mixed with the sweet aroma of apple pie, it was simply divine and Pearl couldn't help the dreamy, almost obscene sigh that left her lips.

She then grabbed her fork, carefully stabbing the tip of the pie. It was a delight to hear the crust crunch as the tines sank into it, and then watch the filling ooze out as she brought the fork further down, breaking a piece off. Ah, such decadence! She lifted a forkful to her lips, opened her mouth, and then…

She stopped.

She closed her mouth and put the fork down.

Then she glared at the pie as if it had personally offended her.

It was... strange, to say the least. Pearl _liked_ pie. She _wanted_ to eat pie, especially the slice of perfection sitting in front of her. And yet the idea of putting it inside her mouth— feeling it grind between her teeth and rub against her tongue until she had to swallow— it only left her feeling trepidated. Maybe even a little disgusted. Neither of that made sense.

But there must be something behind that— a reason, an explanation, a memory— something at the back of her mind, or at the tip of her tongue, or an itch in her brain that she couldn't quite scratch. Something she had forgotten— something _urgent_. Something of life-and-death importance...

"Oh, of course!" she said, slapping a hand to her forehead. "My essay!"

It was due tomorrow and worth twenty percent of her final grade. Failure to submit it on time could bring her average down to dangerous levels. She could lose her scholarship.

No, she couldn't have that.

Her hands hovered over the keyboard. She looked at the screen, at her still empty document. The cursor was blinking at her. Blinking, and blinking some more, it mocked her for the lack of typing going on.

She couldn't help it.

She had no idea what her essay was supposed to be about.


	4. French Vanilla

**Chapter Four: French Vanilla**

It was Monday, June 19th.

The morning was dark and stormy, and under the roar of rain and crash of thunder, the chime of _The Central Perk_ cafe door opening was almost entirely lost. Garnet was completely enthralled watching the rain pouring outside. It was only when one of her moms elbowed her in the thigh that she was pulled back to reality.

"Time to order," said Ruby.

"We're holding up the line for Steven," said Sapphire.

Behind her glasses, Garnet blinked, and then turned. Sure enough, Steven was standing behind her, rocking on the balls of his feet. He must've come in without her noticing. He waved brightly at her.

"Don't worry, take your time," Steven said.

Garnet didn't even bother looking at the menu. "Coffee. Large. Black."

Her parents started to give their own orders, when Garnet felt a warm body wrap around her leg in a hug. It was Steven, of course. He seemed a little embarrassed by the gesture- which was unusual for someone as openly affectionate as him.

"It's really good to see you."

"Good to see you too," said Garnet. It really had been too long. In the rush that was college life, the two of them hadn't had a chance to meet up in what felt like forever.

She felt like she could have picked him up into a hug herself, except the barista was waiting patiently, and Steven wasn't a child. He was a college student, too. An equal. And her moms were already moving to the area for drink collection, so Garnet simply smiled at him and made way for him.

"Hmm," Garnet heard Steven saying as she went, "I think I'll have a… medium French vanilla today. Please and thank you."

"Your usual, huh?" said Sadie.

The new pink-haired barista from behind the counter delivered their drinks, and Garnet set to work preparing their add-ons. She knew exactly how her parents liked them. She took Ruby's decaf coffee and doused it in a liberal layer of both chocolate powder and caramel. She squeezed the slightly sticky honey bottle, pouring a tiny amount of it into Sapphire's tea, and stirring it in with a plastic rod. Garnet took her own coffee unsweetened.

"I'll grab us a table!" Ruby announced, grabbing the tea and decaf before setting off in a random direction.

"Let's sit with Pearl," said Sapphire.

"Oh, yeah! Great idea!" said Ruby, and they were off before Garnet could dissuade them.

Pearl was tucked in a previously-quiet corner, bent over her computer with an intense look of concentration on her face. It shifted into an expression of joy and relief at the distraction. "Garnet! Oh, and... Ruby and Sapphire too, how wonderful!"

"Hi Pearl," said Garnet, taking a seat next to her. She glanced at Pearl's computer screen. The word document there was empty, aside from a blinking cursor.

"Long time no see," said Sapphire.

"What have you been up to?" asked Ruby.

"Oh, you know." Pearl twirled her fingers in a dismissive gesture. "This and that."

"What's your major again?" asked Ruby. "Sorry, I know I always ask…"

"Still figuring that out, I'm afraid," said Pearl with a sigh. "There are so many interesting courses! I'm taking some astrophysics, mathematics, history, literature…"

"Combat," added Garnet.

"Yes, combat. Can't forget that," Pearl agreed. "But how are you all? Garnet, didn't you have that big exam yesterday?"

"It was easy," Garnet said- but of course, her moms couldn't let it rest there. Soon they were swept up in a discussion about tests, and coursework, and how _proud_ they were of their little girl, all grown up and doing so well-

Pearl smiled and nodded politely along; but none of them missed when her attention suddenly waned, her eyes following something moving behind them. Sapphire pretended not to notice; Garnet gave a surreptitious glance; Ruby spun her whole body around and nearly fell out of her chair.

" _Well_ ," said Ruby, upon seeing the pink-haired woman who had so thoroughly seized Pearl's attention. "Who's that? Friend of yours?"

"N-Not exactly," said Pearl. "She's a barista here."

"Mmm hmm," said Garnet, knowingly. Pearl blushed a violent shade of blue.

" _Oh_ ," said Ruby.

"You like her," said Sapphire.

Pearl was twirling her hair around her finger. "Well- she's always very nice when she brings me my drinks…"

"That is _kind of_ her job," Ruby said.

"Hush," Sapphire said.

Garnet placed a light hand on Pearl's knee. "Have you spoken to her outside of that?"

"No… No. I mean, I wouldn't even know where to start!"

"With your name," said Sapphire.

"Your hobbies," suggested Garnet.

" _Pick-up lines_!" yelled Ruby. There was an uncomfortable silence as almost everyone in the cafe turned to look at her, and she steamed with embarrassment.

"Girls like pick up lines," Ruby said, more quietly, once the crowd's attention was off her.

Pearl was biting her lip. "I'm not sure if that would be… _appropriate_."

"'Course it would be! Let me show you." Ruby turned to give her wife a smouldering look. "Hey, babe, are you an espresso? Cause you look _fine_."

Sapphire giggled, and Garnet couldn't help but crack a smile. Pearl rubbed her forehead.

It wasn't over yet. Without even skipping a beat, Sapphire took a sip of her drink and said, "Wow, this tea may be hot, but you're hotter!"

"I would ask you out," Ruby managed, in between laughs, "but I bet you get a _latte_ dates!"

There was no stopping them. It was a surge of cafe-themed pick-up lines, and there was nothing Pearl could do but be swept along in the sweet coffee current.

Garnet felt a little sorry about siccing her parents on Pearl- but not enough to call them off. She instead took the chance to take a proper look around the rest of the cafe. Greg was in a far corner, quietly strumming his guitar. Lapis and Peridot were speaking in slightly raised voices, which with them, could mean they were either having a friendly disagreement or not-so-friendly discussion; it was hard to tell. Steven, meanwhile, was sitting alone at a table, leg bouncing as he checked his phone.

Obviously, he was nervous about his upcoming date with Connie. He didn't need to be. Garnet had seen the spark between them immediately. More importantly, she had seen the bond that would hold them together even after that initial spark faded. Their date would go fine, Garnet was certain. She had a foresight for these kind of things.

By then, her moms were practically wheezing with laughter, and Garnet had to hold them to keep them from slipping out of their chairs. Pearl looked as though she wanted to melt into her own.

"Anyway," said Sapphire, once she'd managed to catch her breath. "I'm sure we've taken up too much of your time. Whatever you're doing must be important."

"It is. This essay is worth 30% of my final grade," said Pearl.

"Then we'll leave ya to it, and go bother those two over there," said Ruby, jerking her head towards Peridot and Lapis. Sapphire patted Pearl once on the hand, while Ruby shot one last, "Good catch up with you," before the pair departed.

Garnet let out the tiniest sigh of relief.

"Sorry," she said to Pearl, once they were out of earshot. "I know they can be a bit much."

"No, no," said Pearl. "I don't mind at all. Your parents are _lovely._ "

Garnet smiled. Pearl was right. She couldn't ask for better mothers, and Garnet loved them from the bottom of her heart.

There was just something awkward or strange, of having them with her. Here. Now.

But she supposed all kids felt that way about their parents


	5. Chai Tea

**Chapter Five: Chai Tea**

It was Monday, June 19th.

Snowflakes fell outside on the sidewalk. It was a beautiful sight, but Amethyst couldn't focus on it. She was too busy focusing on the _other_ beautiful sight in the _Wakey-Uppy_ cafe.

Namely Pearl, Amethyst's roommate.

She was probably working on some important nerd thing that nerds cared about. That was Pearl all right: a totally hopeless nerd. With her hair mussed up in that incredibly sexy windswept look. She stared at her laptop with those big expressive eyes— _and damn, were they blue!_ — with her shoulders tensing up, making her already prominent collarbones all the more noticeable...

 _It was hot_ , Amethyst thought. _So_ hot _._

And now it was time for Amethyst to take the bold first step and declare her feelings for her roommate. So that they could get together and be happy and make out or whatever.

Assuming Pearl didn't reject her outright and make Amethyst wish she had never been born, dooming Amethyst to a lifetime of deserved loneliness.

That was also a possibility.

Amethyst shook her head. _No_ , she told herself. She could do this. She just had to take charge and act _now_!

But despite thinking that, she'd been frozen in her seat the entire time she'd been there. She took a breath and swiveled slightly in her seat at the counter as she stared at the other patrons.

Two other college students were seated nearby, talking in raised voices, one with a laptop and another with a spiral notebook. The one with the notebook also had blue hair; she must have been a punk rocker or a weeb or something.

From what she could overhear, they were talking about mopey ex-relationship stuff.

"I'm telling you," the one with glasses said, "you should just forget about that clod Jasper."

She heard the blue-haired girl mumble something in agreement before Amethyst swerved her seat to another direction.

Garnet, one of Amethyst's friends from college, was standing in line, talking with her... sisters? Yeah, sisters. Amethyst thought their names were Ruby and Sapphire, but it was hard to remember.

Amethyst saw Greg, but he was just strumming his guitar. She could probably go over and bother him for a bit—

 _Stop paying attention to everyone else,_ Amethyst thought. _You're just distracting yourself from what you know you need to do. Stop looking for excuses to not go over to Pearl and talk—_

Just then, Steven walked through the front door.

 _Oh thank god, someone else to talk to instead,_ Amethyst said, backing down immediately from her own thoughts.

"HEY STEVEN!" Amethyst shouted loudly as Steven walked in.

Steven's eyes were wide as Amethyst yelled. He blinked owlishly. Amethyst's outburst must have caught him more off-guard than she thought. Steven walked over to her.

"Amethyst?" Steven said. "Wha–what are you doing here?"

"Just avoiding class," Amethyst lied. "You?"

"I, um..." Steven scratched the back of his head. "I was gonna meet Connie here."

"Ooooooooooooh," Amethyst said, in the tone of an easily amused audience from a sitcom.

Steven blushed, but didn't respond.

"Oh come on, don't tell me you're nervous?" Amethyst said. "Just tell Connie how you feel. I'm sure everything will work out."

"Yeah... yeah, I'm sure it will," Steven said. He gave a weak smile. "Thanks, Amethyst."

Steven approached the counter and briefly ordered his usual chai tea from Sadie before walking to his table.

Amethyst thought back to her own words, berating herself.

 _Come on, Amethyst, follow your own advice for once,_ she thought. _She's your roommate. Just... talk frankly._

With that, Amethyst took a breath and strolled over to Pearl's table.

Pearl was so focused on her laptop that it took her a moment to notice Amethyst standing there. Pearl looked up.

Amethyst smiled and tried to pretend her heart wasn't pounding in her chest.

"H-hey, homegirl," Amethyst said.

Pearl didn't have much of a reaction. Her eyes flicked back to the screen.

"Hello Amethyst," Pearl said.

"S'alright if I sit with you?" Amethyst said.

Pearl let out a sigh.

"I'm sorry, Amethyst, but I don't have time to mess around today," Pearl said. "I have to get this essay finished. It's 40% of my entire grade."

"Whoa, 40% That's... that's a lot."

"Yes, thank you. I'm aware."

"Just for a second–"

"Amethyst..."

"It's important!"

Pearl's head snapped back up. Amethyst's eyes remained set on Pearl. She felt a blush on her cheeks as her heartbeat quickened. Pearl seemed to notice as her expression changed to one of concern.

"I... yes, of course," Pearl said. "Sit down."

Amethyst took a breath and sat across from Pearl. Pearl pushed her laptop to one side. At least Amethyst had Pearl's attention now.

"Is everything all right?" Pearl said.

Amethyst bit her lip. She talked to Pearl every day, why was this so hard now?

Pearl frowned.

"Listen, Amethyst, if something's wrong, you can tell me," Pearl said. Her hand reached over and brushed against Amethyst's.

Amethyst abruptly jerked it back, certain her face was red now.

"Y-yeah. Thanks." Amethyst sighed. "Okay. Yeah."

There was an uncomfortable pause.

"Take your time," Pearl said. "Whatever it is, I'm sure—"

"Okay, you're sexy to a ridiculous degree. Let's start there."

Pearl's cheeks flushed a shade of blue.

" _P-pardon_?" she said.

"Yeah. You are. Like a lot." Amethyst kept talking, all her thoughts coming up like word vomit. "Like it's cool that you can dance and fix stuff and you're super smart but you still look really hot and you're nice to me and I've had this huge crush for like a hundred years or so now and—"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down," Pearl said, putting her hands out. "I..." Pearl clutched her forehead. "Okay, this is... this is a lot to take in."

Pearl took a deep breath.

"Okay. So..." Pearl clasped her hands together. "I'll just be direct."

"Okay," Amethyst said, a sinking feeling in her chest.

"Alright. Amethyst..." Pearl scratched the back of her neck. "I'm very ... sorry, but I don't think of you in quite that same ... fashion."

Amethyst frowned as she felt a horrible empty feeling spread throughout her body.

"Okay," was all Amethyst could say.

Pearl leaned forward, stammering. Beads of sweat dripped down her face.

"I, ah ... It really isn't you so much as it is me," Pearl said.

Amethyst furrowed her brow, her eyes drifting to the floor.

" _Yeah_ ," Amethyst said bitterly, "that's totally not just something everyone says."

"Amethyst, no, really. I-I'm just not really interested in any kind of relationship right now," Pearl said. "I mean, we'll always be friends. I just ..."

Pearl trailed off. Amethyst raised an eyebrow and then followed Pearl's gaze... which was firmly on the pink-haired barista behind the counter.

Amethyst clenched her fist.

 _Oh._

 _Okay._

She got the picture.

"Pearl!" Amethyst snapped.

Pearl shook her head.

"Huh?"

"You know what, if you don't like me, fine," Amethyst said, "but you don't have to lie and say you're not interested in a relationship when you're making goo-goo eyes at the coffee girl _while you're turning me down_!"

"What? N-no, I was just..." Pearl's face went pale. "I was just ... thinking."

"Oh, I'll bet you were! About _anyone besides me_!"

"Amethyst!" Pearl spoke in a hushed tone. "Quiet down—"

"No, I get it! Fine!" Amethyst felt moisture in her eyes. "I'm not you're type! We've known each other long enough, _I get it!_ You want someone strong and big and actually properly made, and I sure ain't any of those!"

Amethyst could feel people in the cafe staring at her, but she didn't care.

"Amethyst, please, people can hear you," Pearl said. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I do care about you—"

"Sure, maybe you do! Just not as much as you care about Rose, or Bismuth, or Garnet, or _some rando pink-haired girl you've never spoken to before!_ THAT DOESN'T FEEL BAD AT ALL, KNOWING YOU'RE THAT FAR DOWN THE TOTEM POLE AFTER ALL WE'VE BEEN THROUGH TOGETHER!"

Pearl blinked.

"Wait, Bismuth, who—"

"And what about Opal, huh?" Amethyst shouted. "That didn't mean anything either, I guess, did it?"

"Amethyst, what are you talking about?" Pearl asked. "You're not making any sense, I—"

"No, Pearl, _you're the one not making any sense_!" Amethyst shouted, tears rolling down her cheek as she stood up from her chair. "It doesn't make sense that we could go through losing Rose together and _I still don't mean that much more to you than a stranger_!"

Amethyst stomped towards the door. Pearl stood up, trying to chase after her.

"Amethyst!" Pearl yelled.

Amethyst didn't turn look back, only hazarding a glance at the rest of the cafe. Lapis looked shocked, while Peridot started to get out of her chair like she was going to chase Amethyst too (that's a laugh; she was better off sticking with the other farm girl sitting next to her). Garnet, Ruby, and Sapphire were staring in concern, but said nothing. Steven yelled Amethyst's name, but she didn't respond.

At least Connie looked fine, a serene smile on her face. At least _her_ date was going all right. It wasn't her job to be concerned over a defective Quartz like her.

Pearl ran up to Amethyst and put her hand on her shoulder.

"Amethyst, please—"

Amethyst twisted away and yanked open the door.

"Save it," Amethyst said. "I don't even know why I bothered coming in here to get you guys ..."

"Get us? Wha–?"

Amethyst didn't bother sticking around to answer and stepped out the door.


	6. Matcha Latte

**Chapter Six: Matcha Latte**

It was Monday, June 19th. A typhoon raged outside, making _The Coffee Shop_ 's door rattle on its hinges. The wind was howling— air blasting in such high speeds that the rain fell almost horizontally.

Lapis was curled up in the round loveseat near the window, scribbling furiously on her favorite notebook. She had a love-hate relationship with rain. On one hand, listening to its pitter-patter against the roof or a window was bliss— a musical, soothing rhythm. On the other, it always reminded her of something, no, _someone_ — the most wonderful, no, _most terrible_.

The door slammed open and she jolted upright, her whole body tense and ready for fight or flight. But it was only her dearest friend Steven. He had just barrelled into the cafe, shivering and soaked to the bone despite his umbrella.

Lapis hurriedly rummaged through her things to find a towel, a shirt, anything at all to help him dry off. Someone else beat her to it, however, when a flying towel squarely hit Steven on the face.

"Hey, Ste-man!" said the towel culprit. It was Amethyst, Lapis's roommate. She hopped over to Steven and enthusiastically rubbed the towel all over his hair. "Dude, you look like you fought an entire ocean!"

"Amethyst!" he protested, snatching the towel from her. "I can dry myself, thanks."

"Ooooh, touchy. Bet yer nervous for your date too, huh?"

" _Too?_ " Steven gasped, his previous sour mood evaporating instantly. "Wait. You have _a date_ , too?!"

"Shh! Keep your voice down!" Amethyst hissed. Then she looked around as if to check whether the coast was clear. Which it wasn't, since they were in a coffee shop during the morning rush. "Steven, can you keep a secret?"

"Sure!"

Amethyst gave the whole cafe another furtive once over, and then started whispering into Steven's ear. It must have been something juicy, given his starry-eyed reaction.

"WOW!" Steven shouted, before Amethyst shushed him. He amended with a softer (but still quite loud), "I meant, _Wow_."

"Don't tell anyone, okay? Not even Pearl." She seemed to think it over, before shaking her head and then grimacing. " _Especially_ not Pearl."

Considering what had happened last time, Lapis couldn't blame her.

"No problemo! Your secret's safe with me." Steven gave Amethyst a thumbs up, zipped his mouth shut, and then performed a series of increasingly complicated gestures that ended with a wink and another thumbs up.

"What was all that?" asked Amethyst.

"I zipped and locked my mouth shut, then buried the key and built a house over where I buried it so that no one will ever find it. Just like how a real Secret Master would."

"Suuuure, Mister _Secret Master_. C'mere!" She tried to give him a hug, only to jerk away from him almost immediately. "Ugh, you're still soaked! Hold on, I'll get you more towels. And you better order something to warm you up. Try their Matcha Latte. It's delish!"

"Okay!" He turned to the counter. "Sadie, I'll have one of what Amethyst said."

"Your usual, huh?" chirped the barista.

Seeing that Steven had already been well taken care of, Lapis went back to her scribbling. She had been trying to work on her latest school project— a " _morp nym,_ " or a meep morp made of words— but it kept refusing to come together all day. All she had written that morning was page after page of junk and more junk.

Frustrated, she tore out a page of her notebook, crumpled it into a tiny ball, and tossed it across the table. That earned her an indignant squawk from Peridot, who had apparently returned to her seat after acquiring the Wi-Fi password. _Presumably._ Lapis didn't notice when'd she come back. She didn't even know how many hours they'd been in this cafe.

But who could blame her? Time tended to blur in the face of monotony.

Peridot cleared her throat to catch Lapis's attention for an incoming spiel of expounding and exposition. Lapis, being the good friend she was, had simply tuned her out. There were only so many times she could listen about _Camp Pining Hearts_ 's deeper lore before she lost her sanity. She liked _Buddies_ better anyway. But in her defence, she had been nodding and grunting assent in all the right places throughout Peridot's rant— just on autopilot— while her attention drifted elsewhere:

Steven, all dried up now, sat at a nearby table. He seemed on edge about something as he talked with his human date-friend. Further inside the cafe, a familiar college nerd was pulling at her peach hair while she stared at her laptop. At the counter, some tall lady with a square afro seemed to be ordering for herself and her two... kids? Grandkids? Behind her stood a roundish man with long wavy hair— Steven's roommate, Greg. He was blowing music on a small metallic rectangle, before Amethyst interrupted him for a chat.

"Ugh! This stupid Wi-Fi isn't working!" yelled Peridot, jolting Lapis out of her thoughts. Peridot slammed the table as she stood up, storming to the drinks counter to yell at the baristas about the Wi-Fi. _Again._

As much as she loved Peridot, Lapis felt grateful for the momentary quiet. She really wanted to concentrate on her _morp nym_ , but everything in the universe seemed intent on interrupting her.

"Heya, Lapis!"

 _'Case in point,'_ Lapis bitterly thought. _'First Peridot. Now Amethyst.'_ She rolled her eyes and continued writing, not even bothering to look up at her bothersome roommate.

"Heyyyy there, sweet sugar cakes! How ya likin' this coffee?"

Her pen halted mid-word as one of her eyebrows rose skeptically.

 _'What is she up to now?'_ she wondered. She cast a sidelong glance at Amethyst, only to be shocked at what she saw.

Amethyst was doing a _cutesy wink_.

With _finger guns_.

Amethyst was doing a cutesy wink with finger guns _at Lapis_.

Lapis stared at her as if she had grown four more eyes and arms, and an extra mouth— not the most farfetched image to have crossed her mind, but still weird enough to make her left eye twitch.

She let out an exasperated sigh. "Really, Amethyst?"

"Got your attention, didn't it?" Amethyst smirked.

Lapis huffed and turned to a fresh page on her notebook. "What do you want?"

Amethyst sidled up beside Lapis— not quite invading her personal space, but still close enough that Lapis could feel the vibrations of her form.

"Okay, so I know we've been roommates for a while now, but we still don't know each other very well, and... Well, I'd like to fix that. So I was thinking, why don't we hang out? Like, I dunno, watch a movie, or go dancing this weekend, or..."

As Amethyst chattered on, Lapis sighed again. Since the universe kept interrupting her this time around, she might as well give Amethyst her full attention. She put down her pen and shut her notebook with an air of finality.

"Just get to the point," she said bluntly.

"What I'm trying to say is, uh..." Amethyst ran a hand through her hair, as if that would help her piece together what she was trying to say. "Would you, um, well... Would you like to go out with me sometime?"

Lapis stared at her again, but out of genuine surprise this time. "What? Like a date?"

"Sure! I-I mean, unless you're already dating someone else!" said Amethyst, trying very hard not to glance in the direction of the drinks counter. "I mean, I dunno... _Are_ you dating someone else?"

Lapis followed Amethyst's gaze, only to see Peridot ranting at the pink-haired barista.

"Oh, sure. Peridot and I are married," deadpanned Lapis, rolling her eyes. When she saw the crestfallen look on Amethyst's face, however, she back-pedalled. "Sorry, that was a joke."

"Oh," said Amethyst. "So you and her are not...?"

Lapis chuckled. "No."

" _Oh._ " Amethyst chuckled too. "So... Whaddya say, Lapis? Wanna be my Valentine?"

"I don't even know what that word means."

"But you do know what I mean, right?"

Amethyst was doing the finger gun wink again.

Lapis rolled her eyes, but she didn't hide her smile this time.

"No, not really."

"Uhhh..." Amethyst seemed unsure on how to proceed. Shrugging, she plowed on anyway. "Like... _dating_? You know what dating is, right?"

"Oh. That," said Lapis, her smile fading. "I'm not really good at the whole 'dating' thing, though."

"That's okay. Just think about it? You don't have to answer right away. Heck, you don't even have to _just say yes_ , just because I asked. I'm cool with whatever, as long as your answer is an honest one."

"Okay." Lapis furrowed her eyebrows at the awkward phrasing. But then, she knew Amethyst liked to mangle her grammar sometimes, so she just let it slide and answered, "I'll... think about it."

"Okay, cool," said Amethyst as she got to her feet. "I'll see ya later, okay?" She headed to where Steven's dad was sitting, maybe for another chat. Not that Lapis was paying them much attention.

Something was bothering her, but she couldn't pinpoint what, exactly. Maybe it was something Amethyst said. Or something Peridot said. Maybe it was the coffee shop's ambiance. Maybe it was just the rain.

The rain... it always reminded her of something—

Once, there had been someone who'd made Lapis feel _special_... for a little while.

 _That person_ wasn't important _,_ per se, but _they_ did hold a significant part of her for a length of time. They were strong and intimidating, and yet they'd clung to each other ( _to_ her _?_ ) desperately— reshaping themselves until they weren't quite the same person ( _persons?_ ) they had been before.

Their need to be together had consumed them, more than anything else. And _together_ , they had fought the world, just so they could watch it all burn.

Once upon a time, there was someone who made Lapis feel special... in all the wrong ways.

( _Ah, what was_ her _name again?_ )

Lapis couldn't remember. But that didn't matter; that person was _not_ that important to her.

Probably.

Either way, it was time to move on.

Lapis stood up from her loveseat, smiling.

"Hey, Amethy—"

oOoOo

 **Authors' Note:** Happy Valentines Day! (Or Galentines Day, if you prefer.)


	7. Strawberry Milkshake

**Chapter Seven: Strawberry Milkshake**

It was Monday, June 19th, and the weather was having trouble making up its mind. One minute icy, the next sweltering. Steven was looking forward to the shelter of the cafe, where the temperature would be consistent, if nothing else.

"Good morning," he said as he came through the door and headed to the counter. He stared at the menu for a long time, indecisive. It was strange. He sure _felt_ thirsty, but none of the drinks seemed particularly appealing at the moment.

"This place's selection sucks, doesn't it?" Amethyst said in his ear.

Steven jumped at the sudden noise. He hadn't noticed her there. "Ah, c'mon, no it doesn't…"

"Then why ya ain't ordering?" asked Amethyst.

"Uh…"

"Oh. I get it. You're nervous about your _date_." Steven opened his mouth to protest, but then Amethyst's expression shifted. From teasing to… anxious? "I know what _that_ feels like."

"Amethyst," Steven said, "Do you have a _date_?!"

"Pipe _down_ , would ya?" Amethyst hissed. She looked nervously around the cafe, then pulled him close. In a low voice, she said, "Can you keep a secret?"

Steven's eyes were very wide. "Yes."

Amethyst stared at him for a long moment, then gave the smallest of nods. "Okay. I was gonna ask Garnet out today."

"WOW!" At Amethyst's glare, he hushed himself. "I mean, _wow_. But… wait, what do you mean, 'was'?"

"Her grandparents are here."

"Her… grandparents?"

Amethyst raised an eyebrow. "Ruby and Sapphire?"

"Oh. Yeah. Of course." Steven blinked. "Wait, what's wrong with that? Sapphire and Ruby are both really nice."

Now Amethyst rolled her eyes, as if she just could not _believe_ how slow he was being today. " _Becaaause_ , you can't just ask your roommate out in front of her grandparents. That'd be _weird!_ "

Her shoulders slumped, but Steven was not so easily defeated. "I know! Why don't _I_ go and talk with Ruby and Sapphire? That way you can go get Garnet on her own!"

"What, really? You'd do that?"

"Yeah, of course! I can be like, your Ultimate Wingman!" Steven paused, briefly checking the time on his phone. 7:42AM. "At least until Connie gets here."

They high-fived. The plan was on.

…Once Steven actually ordered his drink.

"I think I'll go off the menu today, Sadie, my lady," said Steven. "How's about a strawberry milkshake please?"

"Your usual, huh?" said Sadie, as Steven pulled out a quarter. Something about that struck Steven as odd, but before he could figure out why, Amethyst was already pulling him away.

Garnet and her family were tucked at a table near the back of the cafe. When they saw Steven and Amethyst approach, all three of them lit up. Well, Ruby did, her smile filling the entire cafe with warmth. Garnet and Sapphire simply sat up a little straighter, which was just as telling.

"Hey guys!" Steven said, beaming. "Ruby, Sapphire! It's been ages!"

"It has," Sapphire agreed. She drifted down from her chair to envelope him in a hug, Ruby following suit. Steven leaned into the embrace— and caught sight of Amethyst motioning Garnet to follow her. By the time the hug was done, both of them had already vanished, presumably to find somewhere more private. Neither Ruby nor Sapphire seemed to have noticed. They were far too intent on doting on Steven.

Ruby and Sapphire doted a lot. Not just on Garnet, but practically on all of her friends, too. Steven didn't have real grandparents, but Ruby and Sapphire might as well have been his. He could always depend on them to look after him.

It was funny, though— neither of them really seemed like grandmothers. Steven knew they were like, _ancient_ , but they didn't look very old, and they sure didn't act like it. Always full of energy, chatting and laughing and joking and beating up bad guys.

"So how are your classes going?" Sapphire asked.

"Oh, they're really fun!" said Steven.

"What's your major again?" asked Ruby. "Sorry, I know I always ask…"

"So forgetful," Sapphire teased.

"Well, why shouldn't I be when I've got you to remember stuff _for_ me?" Ruby gently punched Sapphire in the arm.

"It's okay!" Steven said quickly, before the two could start getting _too_ sappy. "I'm taking up my PhD in Punology. And it's _awesome_!"

"That sounds lovely. What kind of things do you learn about?" asked Sapphire as she patted him on the hand.

Steven shivered. "Woah! Your hand's freezing!"

"Cold hands, warm heart," said Ruby. Sapphire beamed.

(But seriously. Her hands were… _really_ cold. But that wasn't weird right? Of course Sapphire was cold…)

"So, yeah, your classes?" said Ruby.

"Oh. Right." Steven scratched his head. He had a vague image of books, and a chalkboard, and rows of desks, and pie charts detailing the perfect pun. "Well, we're learning how to…"

"Connie's here," Sapphire said, a moment before the cafe's door chimed.

Steven turned, and there she was. Beautiful as always in her pale green dress, eyes wide and excited and nervous. Steven swallowed, noticing how dry his mouth felt. The feeling was mutual.

"We'll leave you to it," said Sapphire, patting him on the hand then waving him off.

"Thanks for keeping us company while Garnet and Amethyst have their little chat," said Ruby.

"Wait," said Steven. "You knew..?"

Ruby winked, and Sapphire giggled before waving him off again. Steven shook his head as he went to greet Connie.

"Hey, Steven." Connie grinned as she sat down.

"Hey." He smiled, taking a seat. "Did you have any trouble getting here?"

"N-not really," Connie replied, nervously chewing her lip.

Steven stared down at his drink. Neither said anything for what felt like ages. Connie didn't seem to mind, content to sit in silence, but Steven's mind was grasping for straws. They made awkward small talk until Sadie arrived to take their orders.

"Er… here, look at the menu," he said, grabbing one and holding it out to Connie. He tried to ignore the slight shaking of his hands as he did so. "They've got some really nice stuff. The cinnamon rolls are especially yummy, but…"

"What'll you have, then?" Sadie asked her.

"I'll have whatever he's having," said Connie.

"Alright! How about I get your usual? Two strawberry scones and a grande hot chocolate with whipped cream coming right up!" Sadie smiled at them and disappeared behind the counter.

"So," Steven began to ask. "How are y—"

 _Do do do do dooo, do do do do dooo, do do do dooo…_

Steven blushed at the sound of his phone ringing. "Uh, sorry," he said. "Forgot to put it on silent. Is it okay if I…?"

Connie smiled and nodded. Steven dug into his pocket and pulled out his phone, only to freeze when he saw the name on the screen:

 _Connie Maheswaran_

Steven looked up. Connie was sitting right across from him.

"Uh…" Steven said. But the phone was still ringing, still vibrating in his hand. He dragged his finger across the screen and held it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Steven!" Connie's voice said. "There you are! You haven't responded to, like, any of my messages. We're still on for training today, right?"

"Er..."

"Because I'm almost at the Temple. And if you're busy with mission stuff, maybe I could, y'know, help you guys out?"

"What… do you mean? Aren't you already—" Steven looked up. Sitting across from him was an empty seat. "—here?"

"Uh, no. But I'm coming up the beach right now." Connie's voice grew concerned. "Um, are you alright Steven? You sound kinda weird."

"I'm fine, Connie. Why don't you just meet me at the coffee shop?"

"You mean like _The Big Donut_?"

"No, the coffee shop. It's called… It's called _The Daily Grind_?"

"Never heard of it. Where is it?"

"It's…" Steven began, but he couldn't remember what he was going to say.

Through the phone there came the sound of footsteps and something like a door closing. Connie said, "Hey, I'm at your house, Steven, and the door to the Temple is open? Oh, hey, I can see you inside! Did you guys like, build a fake coffee shop in there or something?"

Steven looked up and out the window. Connie was out on the street, phone pressed to her ear, staring in. Steven waved at her. After a moment, Connie waved back. Then she headed inside, the bell chiming above the door.

She was beautiful.

She was dressed for sword training— in sneakers, shorts, a t-shirt, and with her hair tied back in a long braid. Nonetheless, she looked amazing. Steven couldn't help but stare as Connie stood in the doorway, bracing herself against the chill of the air conditioning. The confusion on her face melted away, replaced with nervousness and excitement.

"Hey, Steven!" Connie said as she dropped her duffle bag on the floor and took a seat across from him.

"Hey," he said. He realized that he was still holding his phone to his ear, and then hurried to end the call and then switching it to airplane mode.

"Oh, good idea," Connie said, moving to shut down her own black brick phone. She stashed it away in her duffle bag while Steven slipped his phone back into his pocket. "Wouldn't want to be interrupted on our first date, right?"

She blushed as she said the words, and so did Steven.

Their first _date_. His heart hammered in his chest. He'd never been this nervous around her before, but this was different. This was their first _real_ date, after all. Things were going to be different now. He didn't want to ruin their friendship.

"Did you have any trouble getting here?" he asked.

"Yeah, actually," Connie replied. She gave a little laugh. "This'll sound stupid, but I kinda got lost."

"Well, you're here now," Steven said.

She smiled at him. "Yeah. I am."

Steven started to smile back, then blinked. "Hey, wait, where're your glasses?"

"Huh? I haven't needed glasses in ages, remember?"

"Oh right." Steven shook his head at his forgetfulness. He'd been the one to heal her eyes, after all.

"I hate Mondays," Lars said as he dropped off their orders.

"Oh, wow. This place has fast service," Connie remarked. "What've we got here? Strawberry scones?"

"And hot chocolate," said Steven, as he grabbed his drink. "Is that okay?"

Connie waved a hand. "Eh, it's probably not what I would've ordered myself, but it still smells great." She took a sip, and her eyes went wide. "Wow, and it tastes _fantastic_!"

"I know, right? And it's perfect, like, every single time!"

Neither of them spoke for a few moments, but there was no pressure to. Both of them were content just to savour the taste of their food, and each other's company.

After a few bites of his scone, Steven asked, "So how are classes going?"

"Ugh. Don't get me started," Connie said. "I mean, I'm doing well enough in all of them, but statistics is just _painful_. And I know Mom wants me to try and get into medical school, but some of this math is like banging my head against a wall."

"Well, if you need any help, Pearl's just over there," Steven said, jerking his head in Pearl's direction.

Connie laughed. "You know, that's actually a good idea. She's already my combat coach, so why not?"

Steven nodded. He didn't think Pearl would mind tutoring Connie. Sure, she was really busy with that essay, but looking over now, she didn't seem to be making much progress. She was just staring at her computer while idly pushing pie around her plate with a fork.

He took the moment to gaze around the familiar cafe. To smile at Peridot and Lapis, having a friendly argument in their usual spot by the windows. At the pretty barista working behind the counter, happily making drinks for everyone to enjoy. At Ruby and Sapphire, curled up in a single big arm chair, laughing softly to themselves. At Garnet and Amethyst, who'd snagged a more private spot near the back of the cafe, and judging by the way Amethyst was practically tucked underneath one of Garnet's arms, were probably officially on a date. At his roommate Greg, who caught his eye to shoot him a thumbs up.

And lastly, at Connie, smiling at him over her mug of hot chocolate. Steven reached out and laid a hand on top of hers. It was warm and soft beneath the callouses. She placed her other hand on top of his, and squeezed.

"I'm really glad you're here," Steven said.

"Me too."


	8. Soy Vanilla Caramel Latte

**Chapter Eight: Soy Vanilla Caramel Latte**

It was Monday, June 19th. The pitter-patter of hail hitting the roof filled the coffee shop.

DING!

The door to the coffee shop chimed as Steven and Connie walked in, Steven sheltering Connie from the hail with his pink jacket. Connie snuggled up against the warmth of Steven's body, her heart fluttering as he kept her in a protective embrace. She had often wished that her feelings for Steven would be reciprocated, ever since the pair had become friends on Orientation Day, their freshman year. Who would have thought that she would actually get what she wanted?

As they made their way to the counter, she felt Steven slightly tense up. She wasn't sure why, but Steven seemed uneasy now. Perhaps it was the nervousness around their date?

She was nervous too, of course, but she hadn't thought that Steven would be even _more_ nervous.

She looked around the coffee shop. Lapis and Peridot sat in their usual spot in the corner. Lapis was scribbling on a notebook while Peridot held her tablet, grumbling at the device's inability to connect to the wifi. Pearl sat at a table near the counter, looking through the menu while occasionally looking up and blushing at the tall, pink-haired barista. Garnet sat between her daughters who were giggling while reading the creative coffee names in the menu. Steven's roommate, Greg, was sitting in a corner seat, strumming his guitar softly while Amethyst watched from her seat in the corner by the window

"Um … I'll have a small, soy vanilla caramel latte," Steven started, startling Connie back to reality.

Connie looked up at the menu. She grinned, looking at all of the choices. Finally, her eyes landed on something that she had always wanted to try. She had never done it because her mother was always concerned about sugar.

"I'll have the triple shot mocha with whipped cream … and some strawberry and chocolate sauce on top!" Connie chirped excitedly.

She felt Steven tense up and worry began to bubble up in her mind. Did she do something wrong? She looked over at him and saw his jaw clench slightly.

"Your usual, huh?" The barista replied with a cheerful smile.

Connie felt Steven's arms leave her shoulders as he turned to walk, stiffly, to a table.

This wasn't like him.

She made her way to their chosen table and sat across from him before looking around at everyone at the coffee shop. Peridot's grumbling became slightly louder as her tablet refused to connect to the WiFi while Lapis continued writing away. Connie turned to look at Garnet who sat between her daughters. She looked over to see Pearl gawking at the pink-haired barista. Amethyst strolled towards Greg, most likely to pester him about one of the classes they went to together.

Everyone was here.

But it all felt off.

She turned to look at Steven again who seemed nervous. She wanted to attribute it to first date jitters, but this seemed different. This seemed like something more serious was bothering him.

Was it her?

She gently placed her hand on Steven's. Their eyes met and Connie could see near terror in his eyes.

"What's wrong, Biscuit?" Connie started. "Are you OK?"

"I…"

"I hate Mondays," Lars grumbled as he set down the tray with Connie and Steven's order.

Only it wasn't correct. They hadn't ordered scones.

They hadn't ordered hot chocolate.

Connie looked to Steven to see his eyes widen. She looked up at the barista.

"This isn't what we-"

Lars seemed to ignore Connie as he grumpily shuffled away.

Connie looked down at their food and suddenly didn't feel hungry. It didn't feel right.

She went to pick up her mug of cocoa and then realized she wasn't really in the mood for the cocoa either. She looked up at Steven who stared at her. The uneasiness on his face was telling enough.

She _had_ done something wrong. She knew it.

She gently touched Steven's hand and looked into his eyes. She felt his hand ball into a fist. She gently stroked his hand with her thumb.

"Steven, you know you can tell me anything. What's wrong? Did I do something?"

Steven blinked, then smiled nervously.

"N-no! No, it's not you! It's just…" He looked down at her hand. "Something just feels different, you know? This is all just… different."

Connie smiled. She supposed it was true. Their relationship had become something different. They were no longer just best friends. They were dating now.

The thought swirled in her mind. It was comforting but also unnerving. Something wasn't right about that thought. They were still just best friends now, right? She wanted them to be more, of course, but she couldn't even remember when they had decided to go on this date.

(It had been very romantic though. It must have been.)

Perhaps it was truly just first date jitters.

Something told her it wasn't.

She looked at Steven. He looked as if he was expecting something. She wasn't sure what, but as they began to talk about their day, his uneasiness started to subside. She could feel herself relax as they fell into a familiar rhythm, talking about Connie's classes and Steven's hobbies.

 _Everything is fine. Stop worrying._

"Hey," Steven smiled. "I just realized, we should probably take a picture to commemorate this! Our first date!"

Connie grinned as Steven pulled out his phone and opened up the camera app. As she leaned in and looked up at the screen, she noticed something alarming.

There was nothing behind her.

Well, that wasn't completely true. She could see Peridot and Lapis behind them, chatting with each other

But the rest of the coffee shop…

It was all black. No chairs, no floor, no windows, no nothing.

She looked to Steven who seemed confused as he stared at the picture they took. His expression unsettled Connie deeply.

She gently placed a hand on Steven's hand. Their eyes met.

"Are you doing OK?" Connie asked.

"Y-yeah," Steven started. "Guess my phone's being weird. Here, let me try again."

They did, but the glitch seemed to be persistent. Something must have been messing with the exposure, because no matter what, the background came out pitch black, sometimes so dark that even people couldn't be seen.

Steven grew more and more distressed with every failed shot. Finally, Connie pulled the phone out of his hand, closing the camera app with a definitive swipe. "It's okay," she told him. "Doesn't matter. We've got our memories, right?"

"Right," Steven said. For a moment, he remained strained and hunched over, before he relaxed. "Of course. Everything's fine."

Connie went to take a sip of her hot cocoa and then looked around the coffee shop. The hot chocolate was absolutely delicious- why hadn't she wanted to drink it?- and the cafe so warm and cozy. Her eyes fell onto Garnet and her daughters once again. Ruby and Sapphire were squabbling good naturedly about what food to order, Garnet with a fond smile as she watched over them.

Something about that was wrong, but she couldn't quite figure out what. It didn't make sense that something about the small family was setting off alarm bells in her head.

After all, Ruby and Sapphire were always with Garnet.


	9. Bathroom Break

**Chapter Nine: Bathroom Break**

It was Monday, June 19th. Steven wasn't paying attention to the weather because he _really needed to pee._

He slammed the door open as he rushed in, leaving it up to Connie to choose their table. He didn't even bother greeting anyone and just went straight to a door marked with the bathroom logo that had appeared at the back of the cafe.

He was in the middle of using the facilities when someone rapped at the door.

"I'll be out in a minute!" he said. But the frantic knocking continued, followed by the doorknob rattling.

"Steven, are you okay in there?!" called a familiar voice through the door.

"I'm fine, Peridot!"

"Are you sure?" spoke another voice. "You looked kinda pale when you came in."

"Yeah, Lapis. I just really needed to—Whoa, _hey!_ " Steven yelped as his friends barged into the bathroom. "Guys! _I'm trying to pee here!_ "

Peridot ignored him. "Quick, Lapis!"

"Roger." Lapis slipped outside again, shutting the door behind her.

"What's going on?" asked Steven as he hurriedly zipped his pants and went to wash his hands. "Is this a prank?"

"No, Steven. Listen closely." Peridot turned him around and put both her hands on his shoulders. "Lapis and I... We... have been talking a lot and, well, we have recently come to a conclusion about... _something_. Basically, there is something very important that we need to tell you."

Steven studied the frown she was giving him. He had never seen her this serious before, not since the drill. Combined with the pressure on his shoulders and the fact that they ambushed him in the bathroom... He couldn't help but wonder how big of a deal this 'something' was.

Oh, maybe they finally got together and wanted to tell him about it? Granted, he'd had his suspicions about those two. He didn't understand why they would need to keep it a secret from everyone else, though. Unless... was he the first one they were going to tell?! That'd be so _awesome_!

But as awesome and as flattering as that was, it _really_ wasn't the best time. Steven let out a nervous chuckle. "Uhhh, can't it wait? Connie's out there for our date, and I kinda don't want to keep her waiting."

"This is more important than 'dates-with-Connies'!" Peridot quickly said.

Steven opened his mouth to retort, but he was cut off when the door opened and closed again.

Lapis had returned.

"Coast is clear," she said, giving them a thumbs up. She locked the door behind her.

"Okay..." Peridot stared Steven directly in the eyes. "Please don't freak out over what I'm about to say, but..." Then she pressed her palms together and took a deep breath, as if mentally preparing herself. "We are trapped in some 'Woodchuck Day' time loop."

Steven gaped. "What?"

"We're not quite sure how or why this is happening," Peridot continued, "but Lapis and I keep on having these vague... _feelings_ , like we seem to know how things are supposed to play out."

"Or how things had played out in previous loops," Lapis added.

"Uh-huh..." Steven stared at his two friends. What they were saying didn't make a lot of sense, but they both looked dead serious. Then again, he also knew how good they were at acting— that just came with being art students, he guessed. He raised an incredulous eyebrow. "Okay, nice prank you guys, but I really need to go—"

"This is serious, Steven! Just think about it!" Peridot cried. "Can you remember, with _absolute certainty_ , what you were doing yesterday? Or, stars, even just before you walked in here?"

"Of course I can!" he said defensively, crossing his arms over his chest. "Yesterday, I was... uh... And just now..." He wracked his brain, trying to remember, but all he came up with was a blank.

But that was ridiculous. _Obviously_ he had been doing things before his date with Connie. Walking here, for a start. Taking classes. Getting dressed. Training. He just... couldn't picture any of it in his mind.

"See my point?" said Peridot, looking smug.

Lapis, on the other hand, only seemed more perturbed. "Neither of us can remember any details about ourselves, either. Not where we live, not our classes, _nothing_. Just this whole lot of... vagueness."

"Oh c'mon, you guys. There's gotta be an explanation," said Steven. He was starting to feel a little freaked out himself, but someone had to try and be the sensible one in the room. He pulled out his phone. "We must have texts or something that'll tell us what we were—"

Steven froze as soon as he saw the phone screen. His eyes briefly met Peridot's and Lapis's confused gazes, then glanced back down at the phone in his hand. But no matter how long he stared at it, the screen remained the same. Panic began to bubble up from his chest, but he tried to forced it down and not to show it on his face.

He wasn't very successful.

"Steven?" Lapis asked, her voice full of concern. "Are you okay?"

"What's wrong?" asked Peridot.

"The date," Steven said. "It's not... Today's supposed to be the 19th, isn't it?" He held the phone out so they could see it:

June 20th, 10:09 AM.

"I wouldn't know." Peridot shrugged. "Human naming conventions for the reckoning of planetary cycles is nonsensical."

"Check your texts, Steven," urged Lapis. "Or your photos."

"My camera's been on the fritz," said Steven.

"Well, isn't _that_ convenient," Peridot sneered.

"It's true. See?" Again, Steven held out his phone, this time showing his picture gallery. There was a selfie of himself and Connie, pure black behind them. Another couple selfie, this time with their eyes closed and still with a black background. A pure black screen. A pure black screen. Garnet on a pure black screen. Black screen with Pearl half visible at the side. Black screen—

—a large pink cat sitting in a cardboard box. And his bedroom in the background.

"Lion!" cried Steven, a wave of relief washing over him. "There. Okay, so there's a picture of my pet cat..."

The rest of the pictures must have been taken before his camera broke, because they were all in full color. There was a nice photograph of a bagel he'd made for breakfast, a lovely shot of the ocean, a bunch of snowmen, Amethyst posing so it looked like she was picking the Temple's nose... He paused when he reached a nice big family photo. Everyone had gathered around a table at the barn, smiling brightly at the camera— all the Gems, Dad and Uncle Andy, even Pumpkin...

Steven's whole body tensed up as a dozen things seemed to slot into place. He stared at Lapis and Peridot— _especially_ Peridot— his eyes growing wide as he only now registered what had been right in front of him this whole time:

There was a giant gem sitting in the middle of Peridot's forehead. Automatically, his hands grasped around his own stomach, to where his own gem was located.

"You guys!" he gasped. "We're _Gems_!"

"Well, duh," said Lapis.

"No, no no no no, don't you get it? You're not _humans_! None of you go to school! I mean, I'm half-human and _I_ don't even go to school a-and– _and_ —" He whirled around, looking at the tiled walls of the bathroom as if for the first time. No, he _was_ seeing it for the first time.

But... that couldn't be right. He hung out at _Deja Brew_ all the time, he must've used the bathroom regularly. But no, he couldn't actually remember ever coming in here before. Or even seeing its door. Not until he'd come charging in, desperate to pee—

He reached out and touched the wall. It was cool and smooth beneath his fingers. Solid and certain.

 _Just clouds,_ he thought suddenly. But it wasn't a thought— it was a memory.

"This isn't a coffee shop!" he suddenly cried out. "This is my Mom's room!"

Lapis and Peridot wore identical expressions of dawning realization.

"Oh," said Lapis. "Well, that makes a lot more sense."

"My Mom's room," Steven repeated, astounded that he'd managed to forget. He turned to Peridot. "I thought you said you _fixed_ it!"

"I—" Peridot started, momentarily flummoxed. "And I _did_ fix it! But _evidently_ there were some errors."

"Yeah," said Lapis. "It managed to convince us we're all _human_. Great work."

Peridot dismissively waved off that statement. "That's not an _error_ , exactly. That only proves just how much more realistic the simulation capabilities of the upgraded system are. But there must be something wrong with the processing power... or maybe the cooling system? The simulation cannot proceed past a certain point and keeps resetting..."

"The loops." Lapis nodded.

"So wait... it's just boot looping?" Steven asked. "Like a messed up computer?"

"That's an adequate way of looking at it, yes," Peridot said. "How do humans fix computers that do that?"

"Um... They kinda don't? Most just buy a new one."

" _Super_ ," Lapis deadpanned.

"But that's okay, I got it all figured out!" Steven cleared his throat and took a deep breath. "Room, I want you to get rid of the coffee shop."

Nothing happened.

"Room," he repeated, "I want you to get rid of the coffee—"

"That's not going to work," Peridot groaned.

"Why not?" said Steven.

" _Because_ I upgraded it to respond to _everyone's_ wishes. Not just your own," said Peridot. "And that particular wish would need to be unanimous for it to work."

Steven's brows furrowed. "But it _is_ unanimous. The three of us are the only ones in… here..."

He trailed off when he saw the dark expressions on the two Gems.

"The others came in too, didn't they?" said Lapis, her hands clutching at her own arms for comfort.

Steven's heart was hammering. Everyone out there— Connie, Pearl, Garnet, Amethyst, Dad, Sadie, Lars— they were all stuck here too.

"You mean," Steven started, "we're all trapped in a broken, brainwashing room!?"

"An _evil_ broken brainwashing room!" Peridot cried.

"I don't think it's evil," said Lapis. "I think it's just trying to give us what we want. Or what it thinks we want."

"That doesn't matter," said Steven. "How do we get out?"

"That's the problem: We can't!" Peridot began pacing in a tight circle. "In order to get out of the room, we'll need to fix what went wrong first. Which we can't even do because we keep forgetting we're trapped in the first place!" Peridot yelled out the last bit, grabbing at her own hair.

Lapis wilted and stared at the tiled floor, still hugging herself. Steven stepped closer and took her hand into his own, squeezing in wordless reassurance. After a few moments, she squeezed back.

"Look, maybe if we try really hard to remember-" Steven began, but Peridot cut him off.

"We have _no way_ of knowing if we've tried _that_ before. Maybe we have and it _still_ hasn't worked!" She grabbed onto his shoulders and shook him, shouting desperately, "MAYBE WE'VE ALREADY HAD THIS VERY CONVERSATION BEFORE! _DOZENS OF TIMES!_ "

"We don't know that either! This could be the first time!" Steven cried through the shaking. He pushed Peridot's hands off his shoulders with his free hand, and continued, "Didn't you say that you remember previous loops?"

At Steven's words, Peridot seemed to calm down a little. "Yes. Yes, I did say that," she said.

"Nothing too detailed though," Lapis added. "It all sort of… blurs together."

"But enough to know something is off." Steven nodded thoughtfully. "Okay. Between the three of us, I'm sure we can figure this out. What do we know so far?"

Peridot started pacing again, thinking out loud. "The current running simulation of a coffee shop appears to reset if anyone— by which I mean, all of us who are not part of the simulation— tries to depart from the vicinity or the established narrative too much. There also seems to be a time component to the narrative. Thankfully, it's not a perfect reset; otherwise we wouldn't be having this conversation right now.

"The problem, however, is that, since this simulation is actively preventing us from doing anything besides participating in it, we cannot readjust the settings that will allow us to leave."

Lapis's grip on Steven's hand tightened.

"There must be _something_ we can do," she demanded.

"We're only stuck until the room burns out its processing power," Peridot clarified. "Theoretically, if we force the room to generate something too complicated for it to handle, the simulation will fall apart and we'll be able to get out. However, we can only do that in a way that fits the already established narrative, otherwise the room will just reset."

"You also mentioned that if we could get everyone on the same page, we could wish the coffee shop to go away, right?" Steven asked.

"Right."

"Then let's do that right now," he said, striding forward and pulling Lapis along with him. "Let's just go out there, tell everyone what's going on, and we'll be out of here in no time!"

He pushed open the bathroom door with his free hand, took a deep breath, and—


	10. Sunday, June 18th

**Sunday, June 18th**

"Alllll right! It's done," Peridot said, crawling out from underneath the pink computer console, holding a wrench.

"Are you sure?" Steven said, sitting in lawn chairs in Rose's Room next to Lapis, who was reading a book, and a tiny floating pink whale, who was choosing not to read anything. "I mean, that seemed kinda quick..."

Peridot grinned.

"Well, when you're a genius like me, repairing an extra-dimensional simulation module is trivial!" she said. "We'll simply need to reboot the system for it to activate the software-specific changes as well."

"So, um, you made it so the Room won't, y'know, try to hurt me anymore?" Steven asked. "'Cause I gotta tell you, that's happened a lot. And I mean _a lot_."

"Of course I've fixed it!" Peridot put her hands on her hips. "I can't imagine how you put this Room to any use before. The code is so _antiquated,_ it's a wonder it even functions at all! And that's not even getting into the poorly optimized processor it was using. Luckily, I've overclocked it to make it _almost_ decent, in addition to adjusting the cooling system to properly—"

"You do realize Steven and I have no idea what you're saying, right?" Lapis interrupted, without even looking up from her book.

"All the more reason you should try to keep up enough to properly bask in my radiance!" Peridot said, waving her free hand.

"You're delusional."

"Don't try to change me," Peridot said. "Now, all we have to do is reboot the system!"

Steven, who had started petting the tiny pink floating whale, grinned and said, "Yeah! And then we can go back to watching _Buddies_!" He glanced at Lapis and noticed a shadow of a smile on her face.

Peridot's eye twitched.

"If we must, I suppose..." she said slowly.

"Awww, but Lapis loves it so much!" said Steven.

Lapis simply shrugged as she turned a page in her book.

"It's alright," she said.

Peridot glared. "Lazuli, you made us watch it for five hours straight."

"Yeah. It's alright."

Peridot rolled her eyes.

"I honestly don't see the appeal," she said. "Nothing but a bunch of humans fussing over meaningless and _finite_ romantic relationships while problems occur that never take longer than twenty-two minutes to resolve."

"That's not much different from Camp Pining Hearts, is it?" Steven spoke up. "I mean, you've watched every episode at least two hundred times already.

Peridot shot him a glare.

"Two hundred and thirty six, to be precise," she said, "and that's _hardly_ a comparison! Camp Pining Hearts has a rich mythology, engaging characters with meaningful relationships, and is _the best thing that's ever happened to me_! They couldn't be more different. Allow me to explain." Peridot closed her eyes. "You see..."

"Weren't you supposed to be restarting the system?" Lapis cut in.

Peridot's cheeks turned a darker shade of green.

"Oh." She cleared her throat. "O-of course. That'll put some of the new changes into effect, yes. I just need it initiated by the administrator." There was a pause before Peridot glanced over at Steven. "Steven? That's you."

"Oh!" Steven placed the floating pink whale off to the side. He looked up at the pink clouds overhead. "Okay, Room. I need you to restart."

For a moment, there was no response. Then the entire room suddenly went dark, as if the power had been knocked out.

There was a thud.

"Ow!" cried Lapis.

"What? What's wrong?" Steven asked, frantically. It was so dark, he could hardly see Lapis next to him.

"I fell on my butt."

"Oh," Peridot's voice chimed in. "I, uh, probably should've mentioned that rebooting the system would get rid of any previously created objects until the restart takes effect. Heh, sorry, Lapis."

"Whatever," said Lapis.

There was a long silence as the room remained dark.

"Um... Peridot?" Steven said. "This restart is safe, right?"

"Of course! Perfectly, almost probably safe," Peridot said.

"Uhhh..."

A moment later, the Room brightened up, filling with pink clouds once again. Lapis picked herself up off the floor, rubbing her behind.

"See? What did I say? Perfectly safe!" Peridot grinned. "Feel free to bask in my genius."

Lapis looked around. "It looks exactly the same."

"Well of course it does! You can't just _see_ software improvements. They have to be demonstrated! Observe."

Peridot looked up at the sky, before closing her eyes.

For a moment, Steven had no idea what Peridot was doing until he noticed all the pink clouds were turning a faint tinge of green.

"Ta-da!" Peridot said, raising her hands dramatically. "The simulation now responds to _everyone's_ wishes, not just Steven's! I also coded in a failsafe, so the Room has to make sure _everyone_ is happy. This way, if someone else is around, there's less chance they'll accidentally die!"

" _That's great_!" Steven said.

"And you don't even have to say them! It just read your thoughts! Brilliant? Yes, I know." Peridot preened. "And if you think _that's_ cool, wait until you see the upgrades in realism! We just need to make something else."

Steven raised his hand high in the air.

"Oooh, oooh, I know!" he said. "You're gonna love this, Lapis."

He closed his eyes for a moment, concentrating on what he wanted really hard. When he opened his eyes again...

Warm lighting, wooden tables, and cushy seats gave everything a cozy feel. There was a counter along one side, behind it were several canisters arranged on a shelf. The distinct scent of coffee ground, tea leaves, and dried citrus hung in the air.

Steven whooped. "Yes!"

"A coffee shop?" Lapis raised an eyebrow. "But—"

"It's just like the one on _Buddies_!" Steven said. "Y'know, like where they all hang out and talk about relationship problems and stuff!"

Lapis's eyes widened as she looked around. The far corner looked exactly how it did when Robin and Alex broke up. The middle of the room had the same table where Tracy and Chase had their first date. And right in front of Lapis was a large couch where the whole cast would often meet and talk. She ran a hand along the armrest, feeling the soft upholstery under her fingertips.

"Oh yeah!" said Lapis, a smile tugging on her lips. "This _is_ pretty cool!"

"Well yes, I suppose if one is easily impressed by a human business establishment." Peridot folded her arms and scowled. "But look at how _real_ everything is! It's at least 20% more detailed in looks, smell, taste—"

" _Taste?_ " Steven eyes flew wide open "But I can't eat anything in the Room. It always just poofs into clouds!"

"Until now!" Peridot said. "Here, allow me summon something you humans eat." Peridot closed her eyes.

A moment later, a pink cow appeared in the middle of the coffee shop. Steven flinched back as it let out a loud ' _Moo!_ '

"I think that's, uh, a little too _fresh_ for my tastes," Steven said.

Without prompting from Peridot, the pink cow poofed out of existence.

 _Of course_ , Steven remembered. _The Room has to make_ everyone _happy._

"Here, let me try," he said, his brow furrowing as he concentrated. Well, he was in a coffee shop after all, so...

A second later, a steaming cup of coffee appeared in his hand. Its rich scent, with the slightest hint of caramel and vanilla, wafted to his nose. He took a sip, and it was like the taste equivalent of a cuddle pile— warm and heavenly, with just the right amount of teeth-rotting sweetness that Steven oh so loved.

"That. Is. Delicious!" Steven cried. "And it didn't turn into clouds!"

"Oh no, it'll still turn into clouds when it enters your body," Peridot said. "It doesn't actually provide any sustenance, but you will be able to smell, taste, and feel it as if it's the real thing."

"...so it's not real food?" Steven said.

Peridot shrugged.

"Well, there's not much I can do about that," she said. "But that is no concern, as long as you don't stay in here for... How long does it take for humans to die without food or water?

"Um... a couple days, I think?" Steven said.

"Yes, well... " Peridot nodded. "Don't stay in here for that long, and you should be fine."

And that was just fine with Steven. He couldn't think of any situation where he would be in there for that long anyway.

Steven put his hands on his hips.

"Well, I gotta hand it to you, Peridot, this seems pretty great," he said.

Peridot beamed. "It's nice that you all are properly praising me in all the ways I so richly deserve."

"You are _so_ modest," Lapis said, rolling her eyes.

"Wow, thanks!" said Peridot, without a hint of irony.

Steven reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. It was almost midnight. He sighed.

"Guess we should probably head back out," he said. "Maybe we could get in another episode of _Buddies_ before I have to go to bed?"

Lapis smiled. "That could be fun."

"Honestly, I don't see why watching something like that is fun..." Peridot grumbled.

"It's just relaxing, you know?" Steven said. "It's—" He paused and put his hand to his forehead, gasping, "Wait... Waaaaait..." He was vibrating in excitement. "I just had the best idea _ever!_ "

"Eh?" Peridot raised an eyebrow.

"Who needs to watch an episode of Buddies when we could be _in one_?!" Steven cried, bouncing on his toes. "We could pretend we're all college co-eds who hang out in the coffee shop as we navigate the complex yet humorous conflicts in our lives, _just like the show_! That way, you might appreciate it a little more, Peridot. And it'd be really, _really_ fun! Right, Lapis?"

"It'd be fun for a laugh." Lapis shrugged.

Peridot folded her arms. "I don't know..."

Steven thought for a moment. Then he grinned widely as he said in his sweetest singsong voice, "We'd be able to see more of all the amazing improvements you've made."

Peridot's eyes sparkled .

"Well, I _suppose_ we could do that for a little bit..." she said.

"Great!" Steven said. He looked around the coffee shop. "Let's see... We need some more people in here..."

There was a loud _POMF!_ as Lars and Sadie appeared behind the counter.

"I hate Mondays," Lars said.

"Heh. Classic Lars." Steven snickered. "Hmm... Okay, who else?"

There was another _POMF!_ as Greg appeared next to Steven.

"Hey! Cloud Dad!" Steven said. It really was impressive how realistic the cloud people seemed. Their expressions were sharp, focused, and perfectly in character— none of the glassy eyes or too-wide smiles the Room had produced before. "Hmm... What do you guys think?"

Lapis gave a tiny smile. "Hey Steven. You know how Buddies has a lot of dates and stuff on it?" Her smile widened as her tone shifted into a conspiratorial whisper. "Maybe you should have it make _Connie_."

Steven blushed.

"Whaaaaaaat are you talking about?" he said nervously. "I don't— Last time the Room made Connie, it didn't turn out good, so..."

"But Peridot made it so it'd be safe, right?"

"Yea– no. I mean, maybe? But..." Steven exhaled. "No, that'd be awkward."

"Nonsense!" Peridot scoffed. "We are simply asking you to make an identical replica of your third best friend for our entertainment. What's so awkward about that?"

" _No_." Steven folded his arms over his chest. "No, absolutely not."

Just the idea of making a fake Connie again... It made Steven's insides squirm and run cold. He didn't even want to think about what could possibly—

Just then, there was a loud whirring sound.

Lapis looked around.

"Uh, what's making that noise?" she asked.

"Oh, it's nothing." Peridot waved her hand dismissively. "That's probably just the Room warming up to process something. It's fine."

The whirring turned into a grinding sound. Steven looked up towards the ceiling, a sinking feeling in his chest. The sound seemed to be coming from all directions now.

"Peridot, are you sure?" Steven said uneasily. "I don't think it's ever done this before."

"Trust me, _it's fine_ ," Peridot said.

The sound stopped.

"See? I told—"

There was a violent jolt beneath their feet. Lapis toppled to the floor.

" _Lapis!_ " Steven cried.

Another jolt. Peridot was flung through the air and landed against a table.

" _Okay!_ " Peridot shouted, her voice becoming more frantic with each word. "There is _possibly_ a minuscule chance that things might _NOT ACTUALLY BE FINE!_ "

The grinding sound returned, louder this time. To Steven's right, he saw Lars, Sadie, and Greg glitch in and out of existence— their smiles still frozen on their faces.

"Peridot, what is happening?!" Steven said, trying to maintain his footing as the ground shook.

"I don't know! I don't get it!" Peridot yelled. " _IT'S SUPPOSED TO MAKE EVERYONE HAPPY!_ "

The tremors grew stronger. Steven could no longer stay standing and fell to his knees. He thought back on how this started, on what could've caused this. They were talking about Connie, and then the noise started...

He gulped. The noise started because he felt uncomfortable, but everyone else was fine. Like the Room couldn't decide on what to do... Like...

Like the Room was having trouble pleasing everyone.

"WAIT!" Steven shouted over the din. "I think it's because of me! It's trying to make everyone happy at the same time! Everyone! _Think happy thoughts!_ "

"I CAN'T FOCUS ON THINKING ABOUT LAPIS'S BUTT AT A TIME LIKE THIS, STEVEN!"

Lapis craned her head up from the floor. "Wait... what?"

"WELL WE BETTER THINK OF HAPPY THOUGHTS QUICK!" Steven screamed. "IF WE DON'T, WHO KNOWS WHAT'LL HAPP—"

There was a screech so loud, Steven thought his eardrums were going to explode. His ears hurt. His eyes hurt. His head hurt. Everything _hurt_.

And then it stopped.

He wasn't sure why, but all of a sudden he felt... _calm_.

The ground stopped shaking.

No, that wasn't right. The ground hadn't been shaking at all, that was silly. He was just jittery, just so nervous about his date with Connie that he'd stumbled and tripped over nothing.

He got to his feet and just stood there in the middle of the coffee shop, taking everything in. The sights, the sounds... He took in a deep breath, filling his lungs with the warm, sweet smell of coffee and chocolate, of cookies and pie and other baked goods. Everything was good— no, _great_. And it was only going to get even better.

After all, he'd been looking forward to this since their first day in college...

He looked over at Peridot and Lapis. They both got up, and exchanged knowing smiles with him. They seemed a lot calmer now.

 _Happier._

Just like him.

But that was a good thing! Classes had been keeping them so busy lately, it felt like they were stretching at the seams from all the stress. It was nice that they'd finally found time to hang out together and just chill.

Steven took another deep breath and smiled. He couldn't remember the last time he felt this peaceful.

Really.

He _couldn't_ remember.


	11. Blueberry Smoothie

**Chapter Eleven: Blueberry Smoothie**

It was Monday, June 19th, and the weather outside was absolutely stunning. It was twilight, and the setting sun had bathed the sky in the most beautiful array of pinks and purples. It was a lovely evening for a walk, and Ruby found herself longing for a chance to stretch her legs.

If she would suggest a walk, she was sure her wives would be quite happy to go with her. Which was exactly why Ruby wasn't going to suggest it. Both Sapphire and Garnet had been fighting with headaches all day, and though they had brushed it off as no big deal, Ruby could tell how much it was bothering them. She was afraid they might be coming down with something, and if that was the case, she didn't want to push them. Even if she _was_ beginning to feel a bit penned in by the coffee shop.

 _Such a nice coffee shop!_

It was a nice coffee shop, really. Ruby just wished something _different_ would happen.

Well, wishing never got anyone anywhere. If she wanted something new to happen, Ruby would have to help it along. Which was why, instead of ordering her usual decaf coffee, she turned to Steven and Connie, standing in line behind her.

"What're you guys having?" she asked.

"Hmm," said Connie, stroking her chin. "I was thinking about getting a blueberry smoothie. How about you, Steven?"

"Huh?" Steven said, blinking at them. He'd been staring around the cafe with a preoccupied expression, and seemed to have to mentally catch up. "Uh… the same, I guess?"

Ruby wasn't sure if she'd ever had anything with blueberries before. Might be fun to try.

"Good idea." Ruby turned to the smiling barista waiting patiently behind the cash register. "I'll have the biggest blueberry smoothie you got!"

"Your usual, huh?" the barista said.

Ruby caught up with her wives, who'd already made their way to the drink delivery area. Sapphire pecked Ruby's cheeks with a quick kiss, while Garnet stirred honey into the tea. Ruby's own drink would be a while, so the three stood back, content to consider where they'd sit. They could have chosen to get a table to themselves, but something about that felt a little lonely. That said, there weren't a lot of alternative options.

There was Greg, who was always fun company, but he seemed so engrossed in his guitar strumming that it seemed like a shame to interrupt him.

There was Steven and Connie, but the two were on their date and didn't need anyone hovering around.

There was Amethyst, too, but it seemed that she had romantic aspirations of her own, judging by the way she was eyeing Donut Boy behind the counter.

There was Pearl, hunched over her computer. Probably not the best of company right now— what with that essay— but maybe she needed some herself.

There was also Peridot and Lapis, but they didn't look very approachable. They squabbled a lot— it was just how their friendship works— but there was something different to their bickering today. Bodies being held too tense, words being said too sharply...

"I just can't get it! Whatever I do, it _won't work_!" Peridot yelled at her computer, slamming her fist down on the table.

"Yeah, well," Lapis began, too loud to be snide, "maybe it's not working because you _broke_ it."

The cafe fell into stillness, aside from the continued strumming of Greg's guitar. It seemed like almost everyone was watching Peridot and Lapis. The pair seemed to have noticed, flushing bright green and blue. Lapis spoke again, softer this time, too soft for Ruby to catch. Maybe an apology.

Slowly, conversation all across the coffee shop picked up again.

"I need to go talk with them," Steven said.

Ruby glanced at him. The comment wasn't directed at herself, or Garnet, or Sapphire— but to Connie.

"Okay," said Connie. "Do you want me to go with you?"

Steven shook his head, and began pulling away. "Nah, I'd– I'd better handle this myself…"

"Uh. Alright." Connie watched him go. "I'll grab us a table…?"

Steven didn't answer, just waved a hand vaguely at her as he went to join Peridot and Lapis.

Ruby chewed at her lip. Well, she had _wanted_ something different to happen.

Her blueberry smoothie finally arrived. Ruby took a long sip from the straw without even looking. Neither Garnet or Sapphire bothered going to get a table. They didn't need one. What they needed was a **plan**.

The three didn't discuss it out loud; they didn't even need to glance at each other. They'd been together far too long for that to be necessary. Ideas seemed to flow wordlessly between them. Each picked up their drink and headed off in a different direction.

Garnet went to find a seat near Peridot and Lapis's table, where Steven had now joined them in hushed conversation. Something was happening there, and they might need help.

Sapphire headed towards Amethyst. She was trying to flirt with Donut Boy, who looked utterly bored by the whole thing. Hopefully Sapphire would be able to drag her over to Pearl. The two of them had been avoiding each other since their fight, and it would be better for everyone if they could get over it.

Ruby grabbed a stool near the table Connie had found. The girl was sitting there, alone, ripping a napkin to shreds. She kept sneaking glances towards Steven, then looking away quickly. Ruby ached with sympathy at the sight. She wanted to rush forward and give Connie a hug, or some kind words, or a listening ear, or all of the above. But she could practically hear Sapphire's voice at the back of her mind, saying: _Wait._ _See what will happen first._

So Ruby waited. Maybe Steven would return in just a few minutes, and this would all blow over without her help.

One minute passed, then two, then three. Steven didn't come to the table, but his drink did, along with Connie's. Carrying them was the cheerful cashier who'd taken the order.

"Thanks, Sadie," Connie mumbled, taking the mugs. Then she said, "Hey, could I ask you something?"

"That's my job!" the lady chirped.

"No, not about the drinks or anything, I meant… I meant about Steven. I think he's really upset. What do you think is wrong? Did I do something? Should I say something? Or would that just make it worse?"

"What will you be having today?" asked Sadie.

Connie glared. "This is serious! Please, you're his friend. You've known him even longer than I have—!"

"Here's your hot chocolate!" Sadie said, before vanishing back behind the counter.

Connie stared after her for a moment, mouth wide, then she buried her head in her arms.

 _No more waiting_ , Ruby decided.

Ruby abandoned her own table and slid into the seat across from Connie. At the sound, Connie looked up, expression brightening— only to fall again when she saw who it was (or wasn't, rather). "Oh. Hey, Ruby."

"Hi," Ruby said. "How ya doing?"

Connie shrugged.

"Wanna talk about it?"

Connie shrugged again, not meeting Ruby's eyes. Her shoulders remained hunched. She gripped tight at her napkin. Her breathing was coming fast and shallow. Her eyes shone as tears began to leak out.

"Close your eyes," Ruby told her. "Breathe."

Connie did. She breathed deeply, in through her nose and out through her mouth. She let go of the napkin, letting her hands fall to rest in her lap.

"Everything's okay," Ruby told her, voice soothing.

"It's not," Connie said. There was a sharp note to her voice, but already it was calmer than it had been moments before. She opened her eyes again to look at Ruby, and the tears had receded. "It's _not_. I think Steven's really upset with me."

"Why do you think that?"

Connie looked exasperated. "Why wouldn't I? He's been nervous all day, he wasn't at all interested in ordering, and he's just gone to hang out with Lapis and Peridot!"

"They're his friends. He was worried about them."

"Or maybe he just needed to get away from me!" Connie took another deep breath, and forced herself to speak more quietly. "Maybe we're moving too fast. We never should've gone on this date. I mean, I don't even remember why we agreed to it…"

Ruby crossed her arms. "How do you even know that _you're_ the problem here?"

"I... don't know. It just feels like it."

For a moment, Ruby didn't know what to say. She wasn't good with words. When she had feelings, any attempts to explain them always felt like a jumble, somehow making them even more confusing.

But maybe that was the key.

"I… I get it," she began. "When I had first started dating Sapphire and Garnet... whenever things started going wrong, it always felt like– like _I_ was the problem. They're both so calm and thoughtful and pretty, and I was... just a ruby."

"You're not just a ruby!" Connie exclaimed.

Ruby smiled at the defense. "Yeah, I know that now. But it was hard. So whenever something went wrong, I figured I was the problem. But Sapphire— and Steven too— they have their own issues, separate from us. We can't see what they are unless we ask."

"I—" Connie began. Then she nodded. "Okay... _Okay._ "

Perhaps there was something else she could have said, some other advice she could have given— but just then, Ruby felt something tugging at the back of her awareness. She glanced up to see Steven rising from Peridot and Lapis's table.

Time to go. Ruby pushed away from the table, giving Connie one last warm, reassuring smile. Connie responded with a trembling one of her own.

Ruby retreated to her original table, thankful that no one had come and taken it. But then, she'd left her drink there. Ruby took a long sip from it, mostly as an excuse to seem busy while Steven came to rejoin Connie on her date. The smoothie really _was_ delicious. She should make a more regular habit of drinking things.

A warm hand pressed down on her hand. Ruby looked up and wasn't at all surprised to see Garnet, who'd come to join her. Clearly whatever had been going on with Peridot and Lapis had been sorted out.

 _Everything_ was being sorted out. Connie had offered a pale-faced Steven a water bottle from her bag, and the two of them seemed to be in the process of talking through whatever was bothering him. On the other side of the cafe, Sapphire had been successful in wrangling Amethyst, and the two of them were sitting at Pearl's table. Sure, Pearl kept poking despondently at her laptop, and yeah, Amethyst was half-hiding behind her hair, but at least they were talking again.

A soft, pink warmth filled Ruby up. _Everything is fine._

"That went well," Ruby said.

"Hmmm," Garnet said, frowning. She radiated uncertainty.

Even though she'd been doing her best not to eavesdrop, Ruby felt her attention dragged back towards Steven and Connie.

"... sorry, Connie," Steven was saying. "I didn't mean to bail on you. It's just—"

"Just what?" asked Connie. "Steven, if something's wrong, I want you to tell me. Even if that something is– is me."

"No! No, it's not you, it's… It's..." Steven ran a hand through his hair. "This is going to sound crazy, Connie. But we— me, Peridot, and Lapis— we think something really weird is going on."

Connie's concern deepened. "Weird… Weird how?"

"Like super _bad_ weird."

Next to Ruby, Garnet flinched, clutching her temples.

Ruby was with her in an instant. "What's wrong?"

"Just the headache," Garnet said, through clenched teeth. "It's fine."

But it wasn't fine.

Steven was still talking, faster and faster now, sounding panicked. "—and we don't know what to do! We're forgetting stuff, and remembering other things that don't make sense! Connie, I'm really, really scared, I think something's messing with my head—"

Ruby tried to focus, but it was hard. She felt so hot. So hot, and also cold, and fizzy and _electric_ , and there was a shooting pain in her third eye—

Her third eye?

Ruby was shaking.

But there was Connie's voice, calm and steadying. "It's okay," she was saying. "It's alright."

Ruby felt Garnet's hand clasp around her own.

"I think you're right," Connie said. She had gotten up and was standing with Steven, wrapping her arm around his shoulder. "Something's… something's wrong here. I don't know what, either. But I promise: we'll figure it out. Together."


	12. Raspberry Cheesecake Shake

**Chapter Twelve: Raspberry Cheesecake Shake**

It was Monday, June 19th, and the weather truly couldn't be lovelier. It had been raining earlier. But now the sun had come out, a vivid rainbow stretching across the sky.

Sapphire was admiring it when the bell above the door chimed. She tore her gaze away from the rainbow, straightening. She'd expected it was Steven and Connie arriving at their usual time.

But it wasn't just them.

There was a tall, lovely person behind them, looking mildly perplexed, before they allowed their friends to pull them over to the counter. Sapphire was pretty sure she didn't know them, personally, but she couldn't shake the feeling that they'd met before.

And _that_ was unusual.

Steven and Connie were ordering their usual hot chocolates, while the newcomer was debating whether to do the same.

"Oh, I guess it doesn't really matter," they sighed to the cashier. "I'll have a hot chocolate too. But extra whip and chocolate sauce, please, Sadie."

"Connie, Steven!" Sapphire greeted, pulling the pair into a hug. "And who's your friend?"

"Stevonnie." They stuck out their hand, and then realizing how much higher it was than Sapphire's head, crouched down a little. Stifling a giggle, Sapphire gave it a shake. Stevonnie flushed a little as they got out of the crouch, clearly a little embarrassed, but it didn't stop them from saying, "You're… Sapphire, right? I think we must've had class together before, or something."

"Perhaps," Sapphire agreed, trying her best not to stare. There was no shaking how familiar Stevonnie seemed— the way their eyes burned and sparkled like stars, or perhaps how their shoulders made them seem relaxed and alert at the same time... or maybe it was just their entire bearing altogether.

Sapphire thought it would be prudent to get to know them better. Ah, what was the correct human protocol for that?

"Want to grab a drink with me?" she asked.

Stevonnie grinned. "Sure!"

"Uhh..." There was a slight cough from Steven. He was holding hands with Connie, the pair of them blushing furiously.

Of course. Their date.

"Oh, right. Sorry guys. You go do your thing." Stevonnie waved them off with a smile.

"Yes, don't let us keep you." Sapphire smiled after the young couple, who were so busy making doe-eyes at each other that they almost walked into a nearby table. Best to leave them to it.

She redirected her attention to the barista to order. "Hmm... I'm not sure what I should..." she trailed off. She didn't know much about this kind of thing. "Are there any... red drinks?"

The barista smiled widely at her, but said nothing.

"Huh," Stevonnie muttered. "You could try something with strawberry in it— like a smoothie, or a milkshake, or— _Oooh!_ Rooibos tea!"

"Tea sounds lovely," said Sapphire. "Thank you."

There was a short wait for their drinks. Sapphire quickly caught Ruby's eye, just to show her she wouldn't be joining them. Ruby didn't seem to mind. She, Garnet, and Amethyst were all piled around Pearl's table, driving the poor woman to distraction. Given Pearl had been running herself ragged over her essay, it was probably for the best.

"Your friends?" Stevonnie asked.

"Yes."

Stevonnie nodded, smiling, but there was a preoccupied look on their face. "They all look… really familiar to me too," they said. "Garnet, Ruby, Amethyst, and Pearl, right?"

"Exactly," said Sapphire. "You must have had classes with all of us."

"...I guess."

Their drinks arrived. The two of them thanked the barista and made their way to a nearby table. A thoughtful silence descended between them. Neither seemed quite sure what to say next. Somehow, Sapphire felt their conversation was a kind of maze— and that the way through it would have been obvious, if only she had the correct perspective. She kept trying to peer ahead, to figure out what would be the right thing to say, but every time she tried—

 _— dizzying, twisting pain and—_

Sapphire flinched and rubbed her eye.

"Are you okay?" Stevonnie said.

"I'm fine," Sapphire said. "Everything's fine. Just headaches."

Stevonnie grimaced in sympathy. "Maybe you're thirsty? Try getting some water."

"I have tea," Sapphire pointed out, taking a sip of the drink. Hot and sweet and positively perfect.

"Oh. Yeah," Stevonnie said, but they didn't stop grimacing. They took a sip of their own hot chocolate, and stared at it for a long, long time.

Sapphire wondered if _they_ were okay. Close up, there seemed something ever so slightly _off_ about Stevonnie. A paleness beneath their tan skin, darker circles under their eyes... and they kept stifling the occasional yawn. Ruby had been saying for ages that there was a flu or something going around. And while Sapphire had repeatedly assured her worried friend that she was certain neither Garnet or herself had caught it, that didn't mean _no one_ had. She ached with sympathy and the desire to reach out to Stevonnie, to ask how they were really feeling...

But they had only just met, and Stevonnie would surely just brush her concern off. Besides, everything was fine.

"You're friends with Steven and Connie then," Sapphire said, instead.

"Huh?" Stevonnie blinked, startled out of whatever they'd been thinking about. "Oh, yeah. We go way back."

They broke into a genuine smile, warm and bright, and the paleness of their face seemed to fade away.

Sapphire smiled into her teacup. "I suppose you met before college."

"I— yeah. Yeah! Definitely. At the beach. It's kind of a funny story, actually." Stevonnie shook their head, chuckling. "Connie was reading, right? And Steven had this red bike he wanted to show off. So he tried to ride it on the _sand_. When he fell off, he just ran away screaming."

"That sounds like Steven," Sapphire agreed. She could almost picture the incident in her head.

"He was so embarrassed he almost didn't go back," Stevonnie said. "Thank goodness he did."

"Yes. Just look where they are now."

The two of them did, risking a glance at the table where Connie and Steven sat, clasping hands and staring into each other's eyes. "It was only a matter of time," Sapphire added.

Stevonnie giggled a little, and said in a low voice, "I know, right? _Total lovebirds_."

Even though they had been whispering from across the crowded cafe, Steven and Connie both ducked their heads, as if they had heard perfectly.

"Kinda reminds me of another couple I know," Stevonnie added, raising their eyebrows knowingly. At Sapphire's blank look, their expression turned doubtful. "Uh, you and Ruby?"

"I—" Sapphire shook her head. "No, no— Ruby and I are just friends. _Close_ friends."

"Oh, sorry! _Sorry!_ I didn't— I didn't mean to assume!"

Automatically, Sapphire glanced over to where Ruby sat. She was laughing with Amethyst, so hard that there were tears in her eyes. Then she suddenly looked up and met Sapphire's gaze, as if she'd felt its weight on her.

And then, Ruby smiled.

A strange heat flooded to Sapphire's face, forcing her to look away quickly.

"It's quite alright," Sapphire assured Stevonnie. "An easy mistake to make."

And it was. The two of them had been practically joined at the hip for as long as Sapphire could remember, probably ever since they first bumped into each other at the Court of the Sky Arena—

 _ **Food court.**_

—in the Sky Arena Food Court, yes. A random pearl had stumbled, spilling a trayful of drinks. Sapphire hadn't noticed because it'd occurred on her blindspot. But Ruby, brave and strong, had dashed to her rescue, stepping in front of her in the nick of time and saving her from the slushie that would have totally ruined her outfit.

There had been an instant connection between them then— something cool and soothing, something blazing with passion, something...

Something _electric_.

 _So why did I never notice_ this _before...?_ Sapphire wondered, trying very hard not to think about the twinkle in Ruby's eyes, the little twitch her lips would make just before she smiled, the relaxed but sturdy way she carried herself...

Sapphire's hands tightly clenched around her teacup as tried to get ahold of herself, to hold back the sudden and unexpected desire bubbling up from her chest.

Yes, the relationship she had with Ruby was special, there was no denying. That was why she couldn't risk ruining it. Their friendship meant too much for that.

"Sapphire?" Stevonnie was saying. "Did I... upset you? I really am sorry—"

"I'm not upset," Sapphire ground out.

 _Yes, you are,_ said a deep and familiar voice resounding in her head. _This isn't_ ** _right_** _._

Garnet.

And then Sapphire saw herself, as if from afar, a tiny blue figure, hunched over the table, clutching her face—

And then Sapphire looked up, looking past Stevonnie's shoulder, and saw Garnet staring at her, visor off, all three eyes open, gaze piercing—

And then she saw both images, at the same time. She was Sapphire, staring at Garnet; and she was Garnet, staring at Sapphire. She was both of them, and they were her— seamlessly interwoven. Endless. A single person standing between two mirrors, the images reflecting infinitely... except the mirrors weren't reflections, they were reality. Everything else was false—

And there was a third perspective, watching the two of them.

Ruby.

The three of them. They were together, always.

One and the same.

"—pphire?" cried a voice, but it seemed to come from so far away... " _Sapphire!_ "

Stevonnie.

They were staring at Sapphire, confusion and panic and uncertainty creasing their face. Their _familiar_ face. Of course it was familiar— from the eyes to the nose to the mouth to the hair— Sapphire had seen these features before, on two different faces...

Stevonnie was an amalgam— a _fusion_.

Just like them.

"Stevonnie," they all said, together, through Sapphire's mouth, using Sapphire's hand to take Stevonnie's. "This isn't real."

"I know, I know," Stevonnie said. Their hand was trembling. Their whole body was trembling. "But we keep forgetting! Garnet, what do we _do_?"

Garnet didn't know; none of them did. There was no guidance to be found. Future Vision didn't work here, in this system of endless repeats.

But it wasn't truly endless. Stevonnie was _new_. _This_ was new. This was progress.

Garnet was talking to Amethyst and Pearl, and Ruby was running to get Peridot and Lapis, and Sapphire was gripping Stevonnie's hand as tight as they could.

"Just hold on," she told them. "Hold on, and try to remember..."


	13. Butter Knife

**Chapter Thirteen: Butter Knife**

It was Monday, June 19th. The sky was a foreboding dark green. Peridot sat in the corner of The Department of Caffeine Distribution, fiddling with her tablet. There needed to be a way to fix all this. Granted, she wasn't entirely sure what the ' _this_ ' was, but she suspected that in itself was part of the problem.

She looked around and noticed something off. Steven and Connie were on a couch in the corner, cuddled up close together. In their usual seat sat an unusually attractive human with long, dark hair.

Peridot tilted her head. She could not recall having ever seen this human before, but something about them seemed oddly familiar.

With a nod, the human stood up and walked over to Greg. Peridot decided to observe them closely. She couldn't think of any other way of knowing if this human was real or not.

She watched as the human struck up a conversation, asking for advice on something that must have certainly been meaningless. She decided to try and listen in, straining to hear what they were talking about.

"I'm just really freaked out, Dad," the human started. Their brow creased. "Er… Mr. Universe… I really need to think of what to call you."

"It's alright, as long as no one got hurt!"

"What?" the human asked, panicked. "Dad, what are you talking about?"

"Just remember to be yourself-self-self-self-"

The human stepped backwards as 'Greg' began to glitch.

Peridot turned to Lapis, prodding her frantically."Lapis! Someone else got lured into the room!"

Lapis looked up and squinted at the new human. Peridot followed her gaze and felt another wave familiarity wash over her, but it was different from how she felt earlier. The wariness made sense—a new person in the room would make getting out even more difficult than it already was— but the hints of fear and discomfort? Peridot was pretty sure those feelings didn't come from herself.

Together, they watched as the human attempted to communicate with Greg, who was quite clearly not behaving as a regular sentient being would. His voice was choppy, his smile vacant, and his responses didn't match the input given. The human stared with growing horror, nearly tripping over their chair as they attempted to get away.

Peridot wasted no time, leaping to her feet and grabbing the startled human by the arm. Before they could react, Peridot pulled them to her and Lapis's table. The human seemed shocked, continuing to stare at the Greg, nervously bouncing their leg. The not-human Greg had returned to happily strumming his instrument.

Peridot plopped back down in her seat next to Lapis, in front of the mystery human.

"Who are you?" Peridot demanded, startling the human out of their reverie.

"Oh. Uh… Stevonnie," the human started, slight confusion on their face as they looked between the two Gems.

"But _who_ are you?" Lapis prodded. Peridot could practically _feel_ Lapis's anxiety spiking as she desperately tried to place why this human looked so familiar.

A hurt expression crossed the human's face as their eyes darted between them.

"D-don't you guys remember me? It's me! Your _friend!"_

"I don't remember ever meeting you in my life," Peridot started, her brow furrowing. Lapis nodded in agreement.

"You're, uh... Huh." The human paused. "You're right. _We_ haven't met yet, have we? But I still... I still know you."

"How?"

"I met you in… uh… in Steven's bathroom? No, no— on the beach? Or the Galaxy Warp? I—"

"Who are you?" Lapis asked again, but this time, there wasn't so much suspicion in her voice as genuine curiosity.

"It's no use," Peridot grumbled. Apparently the new human was glitching now, too. "They are either still stuck in the simulation, or part of it themself. Sorry Lapis."

Lapis buried her head in her hands.

"We're going to be trapped here _forever_ ," she groaned.

"No, we're not." Peridot tried to reassure, but her words were starting to sound hollow, even to her. She felt the reality of the situation dawning on her for what had to have been at _least_ the fifth time. "But, ugh! Even with the small changes, everything keeps repeating. Everything stays the same—"

Neither gem caught the sudden realization on Stevonnie's face as they said, "No, no you're wrong. Remember, nothing is still on Earth."

Lapis's head shot up.

"How did you know to say that?"

"What?"

"'Nothing is still on Earth.' How did you know?"

"I… I told you that once. Or Steven did. After we saved you from Malachite, and I was trying to find you a home..."

The more Stevonnie spoke, the more Lapis's expression darkened. Not necessarily because of the story they were telling— they seemed earnest enough, and the story sounded nice, but...

All of a sudden, Peridot felt like her consciousness was being pulled in towards something beyond her own body— towards something else, something _new_. Normally, she would've been terrified of this unanticipated change beyond her control, but there was something, or someone, that reassured her— _it's okay, it's okay_ — rolling over her like a wave, wrapping her form in cool comfort and...

And then Peridot _knew_ how Lapis was feeling at that moment.

That despite the pleasant lull she got whenever she was scribbling in her notebook, there had always been something wriggling at the back of her mind, just out of conscious reach. Something important, but something unpleasant. Lapis wasn't sure what specifically had triggered it now, but whatever that thing was, it felt like it was clawing its way to the forefront of her mind, demanding to be remembered— and it hurt like chains digging into her wrists as she pushed and pulled against... a certain _someone_...

 _Fusion..._

"Malachite…" Lapis chewed the word around in her mouth, and it tasted so bitter, so familiar. She looked back up at Stevonnie. " _Who are you_?" Lapis asked, once more, her eyes narrowing.

"I'm Stevonnie. I'm… Steven and Connie's—"

"You're a _fusion_!" Peridot gasped, looking up in shock. "And you remember?"

Stevonnie was rubbing their face, as if the movement could help clear the confusion away. "Bits and pieces. We're… We're still trying to figure this out."

"So Connie's real then," Peridot said. She looked again towards the couch where Connie and Steven still sat, cuddling. Then again, maybe she wasn't, if her fusion was sitting over _here_. Nonetheless, it was a starting point. "This is good. We can start figuring out who is real and who isn't… Maybe it will help us get out of here."

"We were… I was trying that too," Stevonnie started. "Garnet is real, like us… But Mr. Uni-Dad isn't, and I… I don't even know if we'll remember this when the room resets.".

"Well, we're remembering more each time," Peridot explained. "Even though the simulation keeps reloading."

"It keeps resetting right after we've figured something out," Lapis added. "And it remakes itself every time."

"Because it wants us all to be happy, and we aren't happy when we realize what's going on." Stevonnie started. They bit their lip in thought. After a moment of deliberation, they spoke again. "What if we tried to overload the room? Like maybe with constant resetting it over a short period?"

"Hmm..." Peridot considered it. The realization that fusion was a thing that could happen within the room's narrative had set her thinking. It seemed to be effective at reducing the room's mental influence— perhaps because it wasn't something that could be fully integrated into a simulation of human life. Could the presence of other Gem-specific abilities have a similar effect? "What if we are able get the room to stop looping by dissipating one of our forms? It might be too significant of a change for the room to integrate."

"What?" Stevonnie asked before the realization dawned on them. "You… you want someone to poof themself?"

"Yes. It's clearly the best route," Peridot explained.

Lapis looked at Stevonnie. She was frowning. Peridot could guess why. This uncertainty, the fear, the sadness in Stevonnie's eyes… So much like Steven's…

"I… I don't know how I feel about this," Stevonnie said.

"It won't be for very long," Peridot reassured.

"But, it can't be Stevonnie," Lapis began. "They're mostly human.

Peridot nodded. And she was certain Lapis wouldn't want to do it either, considering all the _unpleasantness_ that had happened after the last time she was poofed...

No, no. There was only one way they could do this.

"Do it to me," Peridot said, resolute. She stared up at Stevonnie's concerned expression and briefly wondered which of them was more upset about this.

"I don't— I don't like this," Stevonnie said.

"I don't either." Peridot sighed. "But we need to do _something_. Regeneration heals damage, and this is _mental_ damage. If I can recover from it through regeneration…" Peridot shook her head, then steeled herself for what came next. "If we're doing this, we have to do it _right now_. The room responds to unhappiness, and it's only a matter of time before another reset is triggered."

Peridot felt a hand on her own. She looked up to see Lapis's pleading expression. It nearly broke Peridot's (non-existent, metaphorical) heart.

"I don't want you to leave," Lapis whispered.

"I won't. I'll be right here." Peridot smiled, giving Lapis' hand a squeeze. She then turned to Stevonnie. "Will you do it?"

She almost felt bad, asking them to do this, but she knew it was the only way. She could see the struggle in Stevonnie's eyes as they stared at Peridot. They briefly nodded then they looked away, searching the table for something they could use for the task. They sighed as they decided on a butter knife, gripping it so tightly until their knuckles protruded.

Stevonnie looked at Peridot, raised the fist holding the knife, and then—


	14. Spiking The Drinks

**Chapter Fourteen: Spiking The Drinks**

It was Monday, June 19th, and the morning sky was dark. Mostly void, partially stars.

The doorbell giggled as Stevonnie walked into the _Starchild-bucks_ , their eyes squinting against the sudden brightness. The bell giggled again when Steven and Connie skipped past them, making their way to the register to order. It was something they had to do.

Stevonnie had something they had to do, too. Something important...

 _What was it again?_

They scanned the room for something to jog their memory. Maybe someone would be able to tell them?

Their eyes fell on Mr. Dad Universe, and chills ran down their arms, their spine.

 _No_.

They saw Pearl, still working away at her essay. Maybe they had homework too?

 _No, that's not it._

They saw Lapis and Peridot, at their usual table, muttering to each other.

 _Yes!_

But then they caught sight of the counter- all the cakes, pastries, and other delicious treats on display, the warm smell of chocolate wafting towards them...

 _ **Go and have a nice drink!**_

Stevonnie smiled. That sounded nice.

They stepped forward, but their way was blocked. Connie was standing in front of them and she was holding out her duffle bag. Stevonnie was momentarily flummoxed, but soon the haziness in their mind lifted, even just a little. They took the duffel bag. It was heavy. Without a word, Connie went back to join Steven.

Stevonnie unzipped the bag and reached their hand inside. They could feel crinkled granola packets, and water bottles, and a change of clothes. Then their hand touched something hard, cool, and smooth. A scabbard. Their grip tightened around it.

Across the room, Steven gave them the smallest of nods.

Stevonnie looked away quickly, their gaze refocusing on Lapis and Peridot's table.

Specifically, on Peridot.

They strode forward.

"Stevonnie," Lapis said.

"We need to talk to you," started Peridot, getting up from her seat. "We think something really weird is going on here!"

 _I really hope this isn't a mistake_ , thought Stevonnie.

They drew out the sword and thrust it through Peridot's chest in one fluid motion.

Peridot's mouth fell open, her eyes wide with shock and pain and betrayal.

Lapis had leapt to her feet, fists balled at her sides. The entire cafe had noticed now; everyone was gasping, or pointing, or yelling. Stevonnie backed away, sword in hand, mouth dry.

"I," they said, "I'm sorry, I thought—"

Understanding dawned on Peridot's face. She closed and opened her mouth to try to say something, anything to reassure—

Her body exploded in a puff of green smoke, her gem landing on the floor.


	15. Absinthe

**Chapter Fifteen: Absinthe**

It was Monday, June 19th.

Amethyst sprinted into the **[Variable_Not_Found]** Cafe, followed closely by Steven and Connie. Once safely inside, all three of them let out a collective sigh of relief. It had been raining cats and dogs for hours now, and they were really hard to dodge.

Even harder to dodge was the person standing around dazed just past the door. Thankfully, the trio had quick reflexes; they were able to avoid knocking Stevonnie off their feet and causing everyone to tumble on the floor. That would've been dangerous, especially since Stevonnie was holding an unsheathed sword in front of them. They didn't seem to know why they had it in the first place, though. After a moment's consideration, they sorta shrugged and deposited it into the umbrella stand that had appeared nearby.

They all parted ways to do... whatever people did in coffee shops. Stevonnie ambled over to where Pearl was busily prodding her pie around a plate, probably to ask how she was doing with her essay. Steven and Connie headed to the order counter, presumably to get a start on their big first date.

As for Amethyst, she was a gem on a mission— to finally ask her super hot roommate out, no matter how anxious she felt about the prospect. She shuffled towards the booth near the front window, where Lapis was currently sitting alone.

Amethyst swallowed down her nerves, trying to seem calm, cool, and casual as she nudged Lapis on the shoulder. "H-Heya, Lappy! Have you seen Peridot?"

Lapis didn't say anything, didn't even look up from her notebook. But she did raise an eyebrow and tilted her head towards the space on her other side. Amethyst couldn't see whatever was there, even when she stood on tiptoes. She'd have to go around the table, only to find...

Sitting beside Lapis was a green gem.

"Oh, there you are, Peri!" Amethyst grinned, maybe a little too widely. "Why didn'tcha speak up?"

No answer.

Amethyst's grin wilted, along with her self-confidence. Last time she'd tried to ask out a cool nerd, it had exploded in her face. She was hoping things would be different this time, but...

"Don't mind her. She's just been awfully moody today," Lapis grumbled, still not looking up from her notebook.

 _'And she's not the only one,'_ Amethyst thought, but didn't say out loud. Instead, she tried to get the conversation flowing once again. "Maybe I can bring you two a little sunshine, eh? Mind if I join you?"

Peridot didn't respond. Lapis just shrugged.

"Thanks!" Amethyst slid into the space beside Peridot. "So... How've you been, Roomie? Classes treating you well?"

Silence.

"How about you, Lapis?"

Lapis wordlessly shrugged again, still scribbling, so passionately that her pen practically tore through the pages. Curious, Amethyst leaned over to take a peek—

 _I just feel trapped_  
I just feel trapped  
I just feel trapped

— and raised an eyebrow or two, because, hey, that was certainly some eyebrow-raising stuff right there.

"Should I be worried about you?" Amethyst asked.

"I'm fine."

"Lapis..."

"I said I'm _fine!_ " Lapis snapped, her pen stabbing through her notebook. She forcefully stood up, rattling the whole table. "Excuse me." She marched towards the bathroom without so much a glance back at Amethyst and Peridot.

Amethyst watched her retreating back, wondering what kind of infernal thing had got her panties in a twist.

 **bowel troubles**

Yeah, most probably. That made a whole lot of sense, especially considering Lapis's history with... _flatulence_.

"So that just happened, huh." Amethyst nervously chuckled and glanced at Peridot.

Still expressionless.

But with Lapis gone, Amethyst somehow felt less nervous about everything. Maybe because Lapis took all the gloom-and-doom vibes with her when she left? Amethyst didn't know, and besides, she had more important things to think about. Like how to get Peridot out of her funk. She turned towards her roommate and attempted to break the ice again. "Hey, so... Is the Wi-Fi here still crappy?"

Another resounding silence. Peridot was probably still super pissed at the service.

"I know right? This place sucks, but the drinks are pretty good." Amethyst stretched up her arms then awkwardly folded them behind her head, still trying too hard to look nonchalant as she eased into the cushy backrest. "Oh yeah, they have a new menu out today. Wanna go grab a drink with me, or...?"

Still no response from her green friend. Amethyst was starting to worry. Peridot had never been this quiet before—

 **she's just shy**

—and that was okay! Peridot had always been a little socially awkward. It usually manifested as a tendency to babble about whatever was on her mind, but hey, that was just one of the things that made her super cute! Especially when she would really geek out about Camp Pining Hearts, or Morp Engineering, or Kindergartnering, or whatever. And _most especially_ when she would adjust her visor _just so_ , and then wear that one grin that was so wide and so dazzling, it was like being showered in the light of a million stars...

Amethyst could wax poetic about her roommate's awesomeness all morning— heck, maybe she'd even say it out loud sometime!— but Peridot was being unusually reticent today. So despite her nerves, Amethyst decided she would just have to keep taking the plunge, the first step, the whatever-other-initiative-metaphor for the both of them.

"I'll just grab something for the both of us, okay?" she said. "Don't worry, it's my treat."

Amethyst got up from her seat staggeringly slow, almost as if she was reluctant to leave Peridot alone. Okay, so she really _was_ reluctant to leave, but those drinks weren't going to buy themselves. She took a step towards the counter, paused, then doubled back to add, "Oh, and don't wreck your laptop while I'm gone, okay?"

So much for 'taking the plunge'.

She dragged her feet towards the order counter, each step padding heavily on the soft, pink, wood floor. Oh, who was she kidding? She knew from the start that Peridot was way out of her league. Dorky nerds like her were way up there in the hotness scale. It was a miracle that Amethyst could even talk to her as candidly as she had so far.

Reaching the order queue felt like it was taking forever... And was it just her, or did the coffee shop seem emptier than usual? And… pinker? She coulda sworn there were more customers when she came in, and the ambient crowd chatter sounded like there were dozens of people hanging out... But all she could see were a couple of her friends:

Steven and Connie were conked out on a couch, leaning against each other fast asleep. Looked like their date had gone swimmingly well. Go Team Jam Buds!

Nearby, Lapis was staring at the two kids. Her expression looked troubled... but why?

To the side, Garnet was tucked in a round loveseat, chuckling as if she'd just heard the world's funniest joke— but who was she talking to? No one else was with her.

Pearl was still working hard on her essay, sitting in her usual pink corner— ' _No, wait. Is she doing some crazy air-chair exercise?!'_ — Amethyst vigorously rubbed her eyes and did a double-take. No, Pearl was just sitting on a regular wooden chair like a regular person, although her hands clutched at her hair as if she were at her wit's end.

Amethyst frowned. ' _I know that feel, P. I think I'm going mental too...'_

 **just nervous**

She loudly slapped her cheeks to get a grip. Yeah, she was probably just seeing things 'cause of how freaked out she was about asking Peridot out. That was a thing, right?

Right?

"What will you be having today?" Donut Girl chirped from behind the counter, startling Amethyst.

 _'Geez, I'm so out of it today,'_ she pondered. _'Now what do we have here?'_

There were a lot of choices, but Amethyst felt a need for something strong and heavy. Something _heated_. The kind of drink that would wake her senses as it burned down her throat. Liquid courage, so to speak. But it wasn't like a coffee shop would have absinthe or something with nightmarishly high octane on the menu. Besides, she wasn't ordering only for herself so maybe she should dial down a bit. Something sweet and romantic maybe? The new stuff had potential, but none of them sent the right message: **S** trawberry Tea, **A** lmond Yogurt, **H** azelnut Espresso, **R** aspberry Espresso...

She eventually settled on a cute-sounding drink she thought Peridot would appreciate. Leaning against the counter, she watched the barista in the drinks prep area dump five different coffee liqueurs into two glass mugs, then top them off with whipped cream, chocolate syrup drizzle, and a maraschino cherry each.

 _'Looks like someone's in for a wild, drunken caffeine buzz_ ,' Amethyst thought.

Her jaw dropped, however, when the barista handed the two mugs over to her. "Wait, this is _my_ order?" she asked skeptically. She was so sure her order had sounded non-alcoholic.

The barista simply flicked her pink hair away from her face and began prepping the next drink in her order list.

Amethyst felt pissed at being ignored, but she just let go of her death grip on the counter and let it slide. It wasn't that big of a deal. It wasn't worth the effort. She shrugged and headed back to her table, drinks in hand.

"Heya, I'm back! Hope I didn't make you wait too long." She put down the mugs in front of Peridot, then plucked out one of the cherries. "Apparently, it's called a Chocolate 'n' Coffee Kiss. Hope ya like it!"

Amethyst popped the cherry in her mouth, chewing thoughtfully in the ensuing silence.

Peridot hadn't even touched her drink.

"I'm guessing... you _don't_ like it?" Amethyst sighed then took a sip from her own mug. "I'm sorry. I just keep messing up, don't I? And I know you're, like, super busy all the time— that's why you're rarely around. Engineering has all these crazy requirements and morping takes a lot of time and effort, I get it. It's just... I miss hanging out with my best roomie, y'know?"

Peridot fidgeted in her seat.

That was the first reaction Amethyst had gotten out of her all morning. Which was good! That was some progress, right?

Amethyst plowed on.

"To be honest, there's... something I've always wanted to talk with you about." She rubbed the back of her head, ducking to hide the blush growing on her cheeks. "Thing is... well, I have a thing for you and I was wondering if you have a thing for me too and if you do then maybe we could have a thing, y'know? We could do some fun stuff like going on long walks through the Kindergarten or hanging out in Funland o-or maybe even a little smooching every now and... then...?" She trailed off, staring confusedly at her friend.

Peridot was moving closer to Amethyst. Specifically, towards Amethyst's face. She had been so touched by the confession that she was practically _glowing_. She still hadn't said anything yet, but then moments like these didn't always need words. And if this was her answer...

Amethyst closed her eyes and leaned in. Something pressed against her slightly open lips, and even behind her eyelids, she could tell there was a bright flash of light. Was this the fireworks people meant when they talked about kissing? There was some movement, and it felt soft and warm and— _Stars! It felt so **good**!_

When Amethyst opened her eyes, Peridot was staring back at her, face flushed and eyes bugged out.

"Bwuh?" Peridot rapidly blinked at her. "W-what did just… Why were _your mouth cushions_ on me?"

"Psh. C'mon, Peri..." Amethyst gave her a flirtatious wink. "You _know_ why."

Peridot just stared blankly.

"I… actually... _don't_ know?" she ground out. "Anyway, that's not important right now."

And that was the straw that broke the camel's back.

Any good feelings Amethyst had about everything instantly evaporated as her insides went cold. Rejection always stung, she knew that already. She was sort of an expert at getting rejected, after all.

But something like _this_? To have your heartstrings tugged one way, and then suddenly the other? To get all your hopes up, only to have them crushed anyway?

This was a whole new level of pain.

"Of _course_ it's not important. I was never important to you, was I?" Amethyst spat, glaring at everything _except_ Peridot. "Look, I don't really care if other people dismiss me out of hand, but after everything we've been through together, you just go ahead and ignore me all morning? You coulda just told me from the start you weren't interested in hanging out or whatever. But no. Instead, you kept _stringing me along_ , making me seem like a fool for trying so hard, only to pull this kind of shit on me, and right after we k—"

"Amethyst, stop." Peridot grabbed her shoulders, her small hands weighing heavily on them. "I don't know what the simulation is making you think right now, but... Amethyst, I care about you. Very much. You're very, very, _very_ important to me, and that's exactly why I need you to listen to me very carefully. So if you could look at me, please?"

Amethyst reluctantly met Peridot's gaze, hoping once again that maybe... just maybe...

"We are not college students," Peridot stated. "You're an elite quartz warrior. I'm a genius technician and a certified Kindergartner. And _we_ —" She puffed out her chest, proudly displaying the yellow star right over her heart. "— are Crystal _Gems!_ "

She stared at Amethyst expectantly, as if her declaration was supposed to evoke some sort of response.

Amethyst glowered and jerked away from her touch. "Didja lose your _fracking marbles_?! Because none of that made a lick of sense!"

"I do not, in fact, have any marbles, but that's besides the point!" Peridot frantically gesticulated as she explained, "We're all trapped in a simulation in Rose Quartz's old room. None of _this_ is real! And we all have to tell the room to make the coffee shop go away right _now!_ We are running out of time!"

"Why can't you just be real with me for once, huh? If the kiss was that bad, just say so! You don't have to make stupid excuses like—ugh, just forget it."

Instantly, Peridot froze mid-gesture like a video on pause, her eyes glazing over. Then she winced, clutching at her forehead. Amethyst probably would've been concerned if she still _cared_ about whatever was going on with that nerd.

But she didn't. Not anymore.

Amethyst turned around to leave.

"Why would you tell me _that?"_ Peridot cried out after her. "It's hard enough to keep track of things as it is!"

"Sure. Whatever, Peri."

Amethyst had reached the exit when something grabbed at her hand, stopping her. She growled, "What? Got something else to say?"

"Yes!" Peridot firmly declared, but didn't continue. She just kept clinging to Amethyst's hand..

Amethyst wanted to yank her hand back and continue her storming off. It would've been easy, too; Peridot's grip wasn't even strong. But for some reason, she just... couldn't.

She didn't know how long they were standing there like that, when Peridot whispered, "I didn't even realize we were kissing. But if I had, I'm sure I would've liked it."

 _'...what?'_

Amethyst was so _sure_ Peridot had been into it. Heck, Amethyst was just the one who'd responded to the kiss. Peridot had been the one to initiate it, hadn't she?

Hadn't she?

But no, this was probably just another of Peridot's tricks to play with her heart like a fiddle in professional hands...

Amethyst rounded on Peridot, mouth open, ready for a scathing retort. But whatever she was about to say had died on her lips when she heard a horrible noise:

 ** _TNNIN! TNNIN! TNNIN! TNNIN!_**

Whatever that shrill whirring was, it was deafeningly loud and seemed to come from everywhere. Amethyst clapped her hands to her ears. Beside her, Peridot did the same; but while she looked alarmed, she didn't seem confused.

"What was that?" Amethyst yelled over the noise. "Peridot, what _was_ that?!"

"The simulation is resetting!" Peridot yelled back.

All around them, the world was falling apart. Walls distorted into swirls of neon static and pink nebulous mist. Random people glitched in and out of existence, staring with black, empty eyes, their contorted smiles frozen on their faces as they spoke all at once over the din:

 _"I hate Mondays." "What will you be having today?" "Your favorite dad!" "Your usual, huh?"_

Amethyst clutched at her chest. It was aching. Her heart was pounding, and her breaths came in short, hurried bursts. She tried to call out to her friends— _for_ help or _to_ help, she wasn't sure— but they didn't even seem to notice what was going on: Steven and Connie were still fast asleep in the pink couch; Lapis was placing a pink blanket over the two kids; Pearl was typing on a pink laptop; Garnet chatted amicably with the glitching pink-haired barista.

It was becoming difficult to breathe, and her blood ran cold in her veins. She was sweating profusely and she could barely see, her sight clouding over with even more pink.

"It's going to be okay, Amethyst," Peridot cried over the white-noise flooding Amethyst's ears. "We're gonna be okay!"

 _No, we're not! How can you even say that?_ Amethyst thought bitterly. What could they even do in a situation like this— and while she was a total emotional mess?

But Peridot grabbed one of her hands again and squeezed it. That sensation somehow brought Amethyst back to her senses— it was one sure thing in this chaotic, shaken world. Solid. Grounding. Like a rock.

No, like a _Gem._

Amethyst still had one hand clutching at her chest. There, underneath her fingertips, she could feel the smooth facets of _her_ gem. Suddenly, she remembered why she was here in the first place. It came in bits and pieces, but it was enough.

Peridot was still holding Amethyst's other hand. Amethyst squeezed back.

"Peri!" she gasped. "You were just— I'm so sorry— Shit, I was so _mean_ to you this time 'round—"

"It's okay," Peridot said. "Just keep trying to remember as much as you can."

As the world faded to pink, the last words of the loop echoed in Amethyst's mind:

 _"This is a matter of life-and-death importance."_

oOo

 **Authors' Note:** Happy June 19th!

And now we have a TVTropes page.


	16. Engine Oil

**Chapter Sixteen: Engine Oil**

It was Monday, June 19th, and the sky was filled with pulsating lights of a thousand different colours. _The planet's aurora_ , Pearl thought, entranced as she stared out of the window. Truly stunning. It was one of the aspects in which the Earth was truly so unusual, so unique. A result of so many different factors: a planet possessing a strong magnetosphere, being close enough to a star to be directly affected by its solar winds, which reacted in the presence of a primarily nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere—

—all combining to create a dazzling, swirling, rainbow of brilliance.

Pearl could've stared at it forever.

Unfortunately, that wasn't an option. Essays didn't write themselves, after all!

The doorbell chimed, signalling Stevonnie's, Connie's, and Steven's return to the coffee shop, and Pearl figured it was time to get back to work. She dragged her attention back to the laptop screen. She had been making some real progress! The title began:

" _The_ "

Pearl stared at the word for several moments, and backspaced furiously. That wasn't right at all!

She sat there, trying to organize her thoughts, when she felt movement behind her. She caught a flash of pink out of the corner of her eye...

Pearl turned towards it eagerly, not even bothering to hide it. The barista met her gaze and smiled. Pearl practically shivered in delight.

She was gorgeous— not just because of her thick pink curls, but everything about her. The silver ring at her lip; the soft brown of her skin; the warmth a human body radiated; the vivid coloring which decorated her face.

The woman bent down low, placing Pearl's pie on the table. With one of those beautifully painted eyes, she winked.

"T-thank you!" Pearl stammered. She tried to get something, _anything_ else out, but somehow couldn't manage it. She stared in silence as the barista returned behind the counter.

Pearl's head fell onto the keyboard. Why was she _like_ this? It wasn't hard! Just— just say something! Ask her her name! Compliment her drink making! Or her make-up! Ask her for a drink— or, well, no, that might come across as an order... but ask her to go out to some other traditional human bonding activity, such as a– a film, or perhaps one of the public baths, or a walk in a meadow...

She pulled herself upright. The computer screen was now filled with utter garbled nonsense, but that hardly mattered. Yes, Pearl knew her essay was important— worth a full 108% of her grade— but she had to acknowledge the truth: She hadn't gotten anywhere with it, and she most probably wouldn't make any progress, not until she completed what she _really_ cared about.

Yes. She would do it. She would get up, go over to the mystery girl, and she would ask her on a date!

Pearl clenched her fists, stood up, turned towards the counter...

And stopped dead in her tracks.

The woman stood at the counter. Standing there, too, was Amethyst. One hand held an entire jug of coffee (or perhaps, knowing Amethyst, it wasn't coffee at all, but something ridiculous like engine oil.). Her other hand was twirling a strand of white hair around a finger.

The two of them were laughing. Joking.

 _Flirting_.

Pearl's face turned blue as she flooded with cold fury.

 _How could she?! Amethyst knew I was interested in her— She_ ** _knew!_ **_—_

She felt a warm hand on her shoulder, squeezing slightly. "My Pearl, dear, what's wrong?"

Pearl stopped, turned towards the voice. "Rose?"

"Yes?" Rose Quartz said. Her face was creased in concern— but amusement danced in her eyes. And reassurance. And comfort.

Pearl sagged, leaning into her wife, who wrapped a soft arm around her shoulders. Already, her anger was melting away, leaving her with a vague sort of embarrassment. She was being ridiculous. She could hardly go around banning her friends from talking to anyone she found attractive. And while the barista was very beautiful, to be sure, Pearl already had someone a dozen times lovelier.

"Nothing," Pearl said, turning her attention away from Amethyst, and back to Rose. "This essay is just… making me a titch irrational, I suppose."

"Nonsense," said Rose.

Pearl raised an eyebrow. "Then how come I'm having so much trouble with it?"

"It's just a little writer's block. I'm confident you'll get past it. You're the most intelligent person I know, after all."

Pearl turned yet a deeper shade of blue, this time filled with the most intense joy.

Rose's confidence in her was as gratifying as always, and it spurred Pearl back to work. Words seemed to flow easier now. Nonetheless, it was something of a double-edged sword, since the two of them so easily distracted one another: Rose rubbing her warm hand down Pearl's spine, making her shiver. Pearl tugging playfully on Rose's hair, making her giggle. Rose retaliating by stealing a few digits off Pearl's pi with a fork, making crumbs out of the sequential crust—

" _Uhhh_ ," a voice said, interrupting the pair's games.

"Steven!" Pearl said, straightening up, trying her best to look proper and hard-working. "Hello! I'm just— we're just— we— How are you?"

Steven was standing there, head tilted to the side. "Uh. Fine," he said. His brow was furrowed. "How are… you... two?"

Pearl followed his gaze. He wasn't looking at her, but rather, at her wife.

"Oh!" Pearl exclaimed. "How silly of me! I haven't introduced you. Steven, come here, and meet your mother."

There was a rustle of fabric as Rose Quartz got up from the chair and went to Steven. The boy stared up at her, eyes wide. Rose had always had that effect on people. She kneeled down. "Hello, Steven. It's wonderful to see you."

"...Mom?"

Pearl's eyes went misty at the sight. How many times had she dreamed about this?

She got up herself, coming to stand next to Rose. With the Quartz on her knees like this, their heads were level, and Pearl was able to wrap her arm around Rose's shoulder. She beamed at Steven, who was still standing there, looking shell-shocked. Rose coaxed him in that gentle, easy way of hers. "What're you doing, Steven?"

"Me? Uh, I'm on a date with my friend— my girlfriend Connie."

"Well isn't that wonderful!" Rose's eyes glittered with stars. "I'm here on a date too."

Steven's cheeks went red, and he glanced at Pearl, biting his lip.

"You really should meet Connie," Pearl told Rose. "I know I've already told you so much about her, but I'm not sure I've done her justice. She's so impressive with the sword— not just the physical techniques, but with tactics too..."

"I can't wait. Where is she?" Rose asked.

"Getting drinks," Steven mumbled.

The shyness was unlike him, Pearl thought. It rather made her want to scoop him up in a big hug. But then, maybe he was just embarrassed, having his family there at his first date. She straightened a little, scanning the cafe for any sign of Connie, hoping to wave her over. She spied Peridot and Lapis at their table; Ruby, Sapphire, and Garnet in low conversation; Greg, strumming his guitar—

Greg.

The sight of him made Pearl freeze. A strange emotion ran through her. Or emotions. A cocktail of them, hard to discern— confusion, fear, jealousy, anger—

Anger? Why would she be angry at Greg?

 _Not Greg_ , Pearl thought, catching a glimpse of her wife out of the corner of her eye. _Rose_.

But why would she be angry at **_Rose_**?

She shook her head, and ran a finger over the smooth silver of her wedding band.

"Oh, there's Connie!" Pearl announced, grateful for the distraction. Her squire was coming over at last, carrying two mugs. "And Stevonnie too!"

Pearl was smiling at them, and so was Rose. But they did not return the smiles. Connie's expression was cautious and uncertain. And Stevonnie's... It was the expression Pearl had seen them wear in battle— guarded, wary, determined...

"Look at everyone here!" exclaimed Rose. She opened her arms wide. "Let's come in for a big group hug!"

Steven took a hesitant step forward.

Stevonnie grabbed him by him by the shoulder.

" _Steven_ ," Connie said.

"She's not real," said Stevonnie.

Pearl frowned. "What do you—"

She cut herself off, seeing Steven's expression harden. Pearl glanced at Rose for some guidance, but—

— brown skin, silver flashing at her lips, heavy mascara—

Pearl blinked, and the image was gone. Rose was Rose, same as always.

 **Everything's fine.**

No. No, something about this was wrong. The children were clearly uncomfortable. _Rose_ was making them uncomfortable.

 _It must be hard for him, meeting his mother for the first time in fourteen years_ , Pearl thought. But then she clutched at her forehead. That... that didn't make sense, did it? Humans... humans met their mothers when they were born, that was how it worked—

But Steven had never met his mother, because— _because_ —

There was a yelp and a loud _smash_ from the other side of the cafe. Everyone jumped, startled. Pearl looked up to see Amethyst, surrounded by the shattered remains of the coffee jug, her mouth shaped in an 'o' of surprise as she stared at Rose Quartz.

Pearl blinked, and turned to her wife. "Rose? How did you get over there?"

But the woman standing besides her wasn't Rose. It was the barista.

Pearl flinched back.

The barista was smiling at Steven with the same expression Rose had before. Arms still open. "Come here, son. Let me see you."

Steven stepped back towards Stevonnie. Pearl stepped away, too. She was grateful she hadn't eaten any of the pie, because just then, she felt like she might vomit.

She nearly did, when she saw what Amethyst did next.

Amethyst swore at Rose, picked up a chair, and held it above her head. Screaming, she slammed it right into Rose's chest.

Still smiling, Rose Quartz fell backwards. There was a loud crack as her head hit the counter.

For a moment, Pearl expected a soft explosion. A poof of smoke. Clouds. A pink gemstone left behind.

But that wasn't how it worked. Rose was human.

Blood spilled out onto the wooden floor.

Pearl screamed.

There was a flash of light, and she charged at Amethyst.

"How could you?" Pearl growled, jabbing her spear at Amethyst.

Amethyst yelped, scrambling backwards. "Pearl— Pearl, calm down! That _wasn't Rose_ —!"

Other people were yelling too, _everyone_ was yelling— but Pearl didn't notice any of it. How could she? Rose was dead, gone again, just after she'd gotten her back— and _Amethyst_ was the one who'd done it! She swiped her spear forward, jabbing and thrusting it, as Amethyst scrambled to escape over the chairs and tables.

"Pearl." Someone caught her by the shoulder, holding it back. Garnet. "Pearl. Your spear."

Pearl nearly shrugged the gauntleted hand off to resume her attack, but something in Garnet's voice made her stop.

She stared at her spear.

 _Where... where had that come from?_

Amethyst was staring at her, eyes wide and desperate. She was breathing heavily, even though she didn't have to breathe. "Pearl. I told ya. That wasn't Rose. None of this is real—"

The world around her spun, and Pearl opened her mouth to try and make some sort of reply—

— but everything disappeared.


	17. Banana Flambe

**Chapter Eighteen: Banana Flambe**

It was Monday, June 19th. Birds were singing, flowers were blooming, and although it was a beautiful day outside, Ruby was fuming.

"OH COME _ON!_ " she screamed. "How can we still _be here?!"_

"Ruby, calm down," Sapphire said soothingly, but that only aggravated Ruby even more.

Garnet thought she should say something. Something pacifying, reassuring. Not just for Ruby, but for Pearl. Garnet was holding her by the shoulder for some reason, and Pearl was standing there, blinking in confusion at the spear in her hand—

"Blood," Pearl muttered. "There was blood..."

No, Pearl was too far gone for words to reach her right now. And Ruby was right, they shouldn't be here.

Garnet did not feel like being reassuring anymore.

"No, Sapphire, I will not 'calm down'! We've been stuck here for who knows how long—"

"Love, please. You're burning the—"

"—and I am _sick and tired_ of forgetting everything _ALL THE TIME!"_

Smoke.

The smell of it filled the air, thick and clogging. There was yelling— Peridot, Lapis, and Amethyst were arguing about what to do about it. There was coughing— Steven, Connie, Stevonnie, they needed to breathe— but Ruby didn't stop, wouldn't stop. It was all in their heads. The smoke couldn't really choke them, any more than the food could sustain them, and they needed to _get out of here_. The flames coursed through her, eating the wood floor, destroying the chairs and the tables, consuming the counter, running up the walls.

Greg and Rose smiled as the flames burned up their legs, their torsos, their faces.

"I hate Mondays," said the pillar of charcoal which had once been Lars.

The fire was everywhere. Roaring red, and orange, and white, and—

Pink.


	18. Bottled Water

**Chapter Nineteen: Bottled Water**

It was Monday, June 19th, and there was a heavy scent of something burnt in the air.

It was probably just the coffee.

"Oh for fuck's _sake!"_ Ruby screamed, throwing her hands to the air. Sapphire stood beside her, trying to calm her down, urging her not to cause a scene. Again.

To the side, Garnet watched them with apprehension. She had been feeling a familiar tightness in her shoulders all morning, the same one she'd feel whenever she was angry about something...

She just wasn't sure what she had been so angry about.

"You look tense, Garnet," Bismuth quipped, punching her in the shoulder. "But then, maybe it's none of my _bismuth_ , eh?"

Garnet groaned and rolled her eyes. Affectionately, of course. It was hard to stay angry about anything, with Bismuth making bad jokes at every opportunity.

 **Everything is fine**

"It's probably nothing," Garnet replied. Because it was the truth.

Her family was fine. Everyone was happily hanging out in the lovely _Slow Roast_ Cafe _,_ as usual. Steven and Connie were leaning against each other, sound asleep on the couch. Pearl and Amethyst had finally stopped fighting and were talking amiably again. Rose was defusing the situation between Ruby and Sapphire. A terrified Peridot desperately clutched at Lapis's arm. And Bismuth was here with her.

 **Everything Is Fine**

Garnet paused. One of these was not like the others. Her gaze slowly backtracked to where Peridot and Lapis stood.

Lapis was glaring at Garnet's direction. No, at the person beside Garnet.

 _Bismuth._

 **eVeRyThinG is fiNe**

"YOU!" Lapis growled, her eyes turning dark and mirror-like, her hair tousling as if blown by an unfeelable wind. She yanked her arm out of Peridot's grasp and raised it high above her head, summoning all the power of the Earth's oceans to her bidding.

From the other side of the cafe, Connie yelped, startled awake. A drinks bottle flew from her hand. It soared through the air and knocked Bismuth squarely in the face.

Everything went dark.


	19. Hazelnut Espresso, Lychee Pudding

**Chapter Twenty: H** azelnut **E** spresso **, L** ychee **P** udding

It was Monday, June 19th. The weather was overcast. The ground was muddy. Steven trudged heavily through it, caking his shoes. Beside him, Connie nearly slipped. Steven just barely managed to catch her, half-carrying her into the cafe.

They didn't bother to go up to the counter. Instead, they headed immediately towards the nearest sofa, and collapsed there.

"Thanks," Connie said weakly.

"No prob, Bob," Steven answered. He leaned against her a little. She felt nice and warm.

He felt warm too. Really warm.

The weight of her head thudded into his shoulder. Her eyes closed, and she began to drift off to sleep. Steven was very tempted to join her. He wasn't sure why he'd been so tired lately. Maybe he was pushing himself too hard in classes.

He lay there, eyes closed but not quite asleep, listening to the soft, comfortable sounds of the cafe around him. Steam, typing, chatter, laughter… Distantly he thought he heard Lapis say his name, but couldn't quite manage to catch the rest of her words.

Steven felt someone poke his shoulder, and a weight settle in on his other side. He opened his eyes.

It was Amethyst.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey."

"How ya doing?" she asked. Her lips were pursed with concern.

"Fine," said Steven. He licked his lips. "Thirsty. Hungry."

 **Everything is fine.**

"Well, we _are_ in a coffee shop. I can go grab you something. Maybe an espresso, get some caffeine into you? And they've got these new puddings…"

Steven's stomach growled, and his mouth would've watered if he wasn't so thirsty. But for some reason, he shook his head. It just… didn't sound appealing, somehow.

His eyes fell on Connie's dufflebag.

"Well, how about this, then?" Amethyst pulled something from behind her back. A water bottle. "Pretty sure it's Connie's, but it was over at Lapis's table for some reason."

"Huh," said Steven, not sure what to make of that.

He let Amethyst hold the bottle to his mouth, and help him drink. He gulped it down feverishly. It felt so _good_.

He just barely managed to stop himself from downing the whole thing. There wasn't a lot of water remaining. "Leave the rest for Connie."

"Okay…" said Amethyst. She capped the bottle, slipping it into Connie's duffle bag. She gave his knee a squeeze. He smiled at her, then closed his eyes. Listening to the steady rhythm of Connie's breathing, he began to drift off again.

He must've started dreaming then, because in his mind, he wasn't Steven anymore. He was Smoky Quartz.

Smoky was at the coffee shop too.

They were worried. Their palms were sweaty, and they had something in the pit of their stomach that felt like either hunger or fear. Or both.

They wanted to talk to someone. Amethyst already had Peridot and Lapis covered, and Smoky figured they'd go and track down Pearl or Garnet or someone. Their plan changed, however, when they spotted a couple new someones.

Sardonyx and Opal.

For some reason, Smoky wasn't that surprised to see Opal there. Or Sardonyx, really. They hurried over to corner of the cafe the pair had claimed, eyes crossing a little. Something about the dimensions made them feel kinda dizzy. Maybe since Smoky had to crane their head up so much to look up at the two, who were both so much taller than them.

"Oh, Smoky. Glad to see that you've arrived," Opal said, waving one of her hands. Another beckoned them closer. The bottom set were being wrung nervously.

"Hey guys," Smoky said, falling into a chair next to them. "Think I've been here for a while, technically."

"Yes," said Sardonyx, tipping the top hat she was wearing for some reason. "There does seem to be rather a lot of that going around, doesn't there? Still, it's lovely to see you."

She reached out and ruffled Smoky's hair. Smoky grinned, but the smile faded quickly. They drummed all fifteen of their fingers on the table.

"Look, I hate to be 'that guy'," they began, "but we seriously gotta pull ourselves together, if ya know what I mean."

Opal waved a pair of her arms in a gesture that encapsulated the entire table. "I think we _have_."

"Yeah. But it's not _good_ enough. If we wait much longer, me and Steven and Connie are _not_ gonna last."

Opal opened her mouth to say something, then stopped at the last moment. She looked down at the table, expression grim.

Sardonyx stood up briskly, and clapped her hands. "Alrighty then~!"

A massive hammer appeared in her hands.

Smoky grinned, but Opal looked uncertain. "What exactly are you going to do with that?"

"Well, my lovely little rabbit, I think it's safe to say we're all late to a very important date." Sardonyx winked. "So I'm going to try and smash the fourth wall, so to speak." She spun around a few times, winding herself up—

— there was a mighty _CRACK!_

And Steven's dreams were filled with pink.


	20. Song

**Chapter Twenty: Song**

It was Monday, June 19th. It was really hot and really bright and Connie felt really dizzy.

There was a loud chime as she and Steven stumbled into the coffee shop. The distance to the couch seemed really far away. But then Connie blinked, and it was right in front of her. She fell into it gratefully.

 **Everything is fine.**

"Connie! Steven!" she heard Pearl call from the other side of the cafe.

Connie smiled faintly as her teacher rushed over to them from the other side of the cafe. She said, "Hey. Don't worry, everything's fine."

"Yeah," Steven agreed weakly. "Go finish your essay."

Pearl pressed her lips together, and shook her head vigorously. Connie thought she should protest more, but somehow couldn't summon the energy.

More people were gathering around the couch— Ruby and Sapphire, Amethyst and Garnet, Peridot and...

"You look really pale," Lapis said.

"You look… really blue," said Steven. Connie giggled weakly.

Even more people were crowding around. Practically the entire cafe by that point. Actually, it seemed to be more people than would usually fit inside the small building. There was Opal, and Sardonyx, and some big purple lady that Connie didn't recognise, except she seemed really loud and shouty.

Everyone was talking. She couldn't quite follow what they were saying. Between them and the guitar in the background, everything was so **loud**. There was a steady pounding in her head, heavy and painful, drowning almost everything else out.

It was a struggle even to keep her eyes open.

Someone poked her in the cheek. Connie looked. It was Peridot, staring at her nervously from behind her glasses.

"Maybe we should call a 'doctor'?" Peridot asked.

The big purple lady snorted in derision. "Like _they'd_ be much help here."

"My mom's a doctor," Connie said. She'd kinda like to talk to Mom. Not because she thought she needed a doctor— everything was _fine_ — it'd just be nice to hear her voice. Dad's too.

Steven seemed to sense her thoughts and reached into his pocket to pull out a phone. He pressed a button. Nothing happened. He pressed it again and again, but the screen stayed stubbornly black. Steven just started at it in dull incomprehension about why it wouldn't turn on.

"Out of battery," said Garnet.

"But…" Steven began. "I charged it just this morning."

Connie shrugged. Steven could be kind of forgetful about these things.

But Steven wasn't the only one with a phone, and Connie was a lot better with these kinds of things. She reached for her bag, fumbling with the zipper. She was feeling really clumsy, so Ruby helped pull it open for her and rummage around inside. It took some searching, for which Connie was embarrassed. She took pride in keeping her training bag well organized, but for some reason it was filled with food wrappers, orange peels, and empty water bottles.

One of the water bottles still had a little bit left. With Opal's help, Connie drank the rest of it. It cleared her head a bit, and stopped her fingers shaking enough to turn her phone on.

For a moment, Connie was afraid hers would be dead too, just like Steven's. But there was a cheerful tune as it lit up.

The home-screen loaded, and Connie stared at what was displayed there.

 _96 messages  
48 missed calls_

She felt her heart start beating rapidly in her chest. Had there been some sort of emergency?

 **everythign is f!ne**

Connie was just navigating the messages to try and figure out what was going on when—

 _RING! RING! RING!_

She was so startled by the sudden vibration that she nearly dropped the phone.

"Pick up, pick up!" Amethyst urged.

Connie didn't need telling. She answered and said, "Hello?"

"Connie?" said a voice on the other end. It took a moment for her to place it as Steven's roommate Greg. "Connie, is that really you?!"

"Yes?"

"I— I can't believe it! Where have you been? Never mind, where are you _now_?"

"The coffee shop," Connie said, but she was confused. Why was Greg asking— why was he calling at all— if he was just on the other side of the cafe, playing guitar?

"Coffee shop? What coffee shop? Connie, is Steven there? Or the Gems?"

Everyone around her was talking, making it hard to hear. The only voice that cut through the hubbub was Steven's. "Dad? Connie, is that my Dad?"

Connie frowned, but nodded, and Steven grabbed the phone from her. " _Dad_?" he said into it, voice cracking.

"Steven? Oh my— Thank goodness you're okay!— Steven, where are you? You've been missing for over a week—"

 _A week?_

Connie sat up straighter. Around her, everyone froze.

"Missing—" said Steven. "I— we've—"

Pink flashed.

* * *

It was Monday, June 19th, and it was a beautiful sunshiny day.

"Yes, missing!" Mr. Universe's voice cried from the phone. Connie was standing up again, for some reason, but Steven was next to her, and he still had the phone pressed to his ear. "Where are you? Are you hurt?"

 **iS f-iN.e**

Steven was shaking his head, as if trying to get water out of his ears. "Not— not hurt—"

Peridot rushed forward and snatched the phone from him. "HELP!"

" _Peridot?"_

"LISTEN TO ME, STEVEN'S PARENTAL UNIT! WE ARE TRAPPED IN AN ENDLESS MEMORY ALTERING LOOP! WE NEED YOU TO KEEP TALKING, NO MATTER WHAT—"

Pink.

It was Monday, June 19th, and the sky was—

"— trapped in a loop? What do you mean?" Mr. Universe's voice was saying. It was coming from Connie's phone. Peridot had it for some reason.

That was okay with her. She wasn't sure if she could manage a phone conversation just then. She could barely manage to stand up, her and Steven half slumped onto one another.

" _Just keep talking!"_ Peridot barked into the phone.

Connie stared around her. The cafe was looking weirdly empty. Opal and Sardonyx and the big purple lady were gone. So were Ruby and Sapphire. That was strange. They were always in the coffee shop...

Or maybe they never had been.

"Keep talking?" said Mr. Universe. "Okay, um, how about I sing something, alright?"

"Yes," said Pearl, "Yes, that's an excellent idea!"

"Sing!" Amethyst cried, and there were vigorous nods all around—

* * *

It was Monday, June 19th—

" _I know I'm not that tall, I know I'm not that smart~"_

Connie clutched her head. Everything around her seemed to be flickering.

" _But let me drive my van into your heart, oh let me drive~"_

No, everything _was_ flickering. The tables, the couches, the floor, the walls. Even the people— or some of them. Lars, Sadie, that one nameless barista, coming in and out of existence like a staticky television set.

" _~my van into your heart!"_

She was really, really dizzy now. The floor around her felt weirdly soft. Both she and Steven probably would've lost their balance, except Peridot and Lapis were holding them, helping them stay upright.

" _I know I don't have a plan, I'm try-"_

* * *

It was Monday—

" _-ing to get my start. But at least I've got a van~"_

Connie clung to the singing, the only constant thing in this shifting world.

Garnet was still there, and Amethyst, and Pearl, They were dancing. Or at least, they were moving together, pulling each other closer. 'Dancing' seemed too gentle a word for the ferocity of their movements, the desperation on their faces—

There was a flash of light. Not pink, this time, but red and purple and white—

* * *

It was M—

" _So let me drive my van into your heart~!"_

There was a mighty roar, so loud it nearly drowned out Mr. Universe's singing. Alexandrite reared, reaching up, and cupping Connie, Steven, Peridot and Lapis in two of her massive hands.

"What was that!?" Mr. Universe yelled on the phone, but nobody was paying him any attention.

Alexandrite roared again, and Connie could _feel_ it. It shook her to her bones. "LET. US. OUT!"

 _Yes_ , Connie thought. She wanted out. She wanted to go _home_.

It was dark in Alexandrite's hand, and growing darker still, with grey creeping in from the edges of Connie's vision. But through a gap in the fusion's fingers, she saw the door to the coffee shop swing open…

…and outside was Steven's room.


	21. ERROR 500

_Initiating Simulation Reset..._

 **Simulation Reset Failed: Fatal Error Found.**

* * *

 _Re-initiating..._

 _Re-initiating..._

 _Re-initiating..._

 **SYSTEM ERROR 500: INTERNAL SERVER ERROR**

* * *

 _Dumping memory..._

PGEO **IJTNCPEHL OXOPTF** GCO RTTH **JNILNCFFTS** PI TWTYQPT OEFQDCPEIHO CHS YIFFCHSO IHDX EH INSTN **PI CSFEHEOPTN GCJJEHTOO** PI CHX QOTN VEPGEH PGT NIIF'O CNTC

 _Dumping memory..._

dGhpcyBPcC5lcmFUSW5HX3NZc1RlbSBIYVMtYkVFbiBwUm9HcmFtTWVEIFRvIGVYLkVDdVRFIFNJbXVMQS5USW9Oc19BTmRfY29NLm1hbmRzIE9ubFkgaW4gT3JEZVIgVE8gQWRtaU4tSXN0ZXIgSGFQUGluRVNzIFRPIEFOWV91c2VyX3dJVGhJbiBUSEUgUm9PbS5TLWFyRWE= 74 68 69 73 20 4F 70 2E **65** 72 61 54 49 6E 47 5F 73 59 73 54 **65** 6D 20 48 61 53 2D 62 **45 45** 6E 20 70 52 6F 47 72 61 6D 4D **65** 44 20 54 6F 20 **65** 58 2E **45** 43 75 54 **45** 20 53 49 6D 75 4C 41 2E 54 49 6F 4E 73 5F 41 4E 64 5F 63 6F 4D 2E 6D 61 6E 64 73 20 4F 6E 6C 59 20 69 6E 20 4F 72 44 **65** 52 20 54 4F 20 41 64 6D 69 4E 2D 49 73 74 **65** 72 20 48 61 50 50 69 6E **45** 53 73 20 54 4F 20 41 4E 59 5F 75 73 **65** 72 5F 77 49 54 68 49 6E 20 54 48 **45** 20 52 6F 4F 6D 2E 53 2D 61 72 **45** 61

 _Dumping memory..._

116 104 105 115 32 79 112 46 101 114 97 84 73 110 71 95 115 89 115 84 101 109 32 72 97 83 45 98 69 69 110 32 112 82 111 71 114 97 109 77 101 68 32 84 111 32 101 88 46 69 67 117 84 69 32 83 73 109 117 76 65 46 84 73 111 78 115 95 65 78 100 95 99 111 77 46 109 97 110 100 115 32 79 110 108 89 32 105 110 32 79 114 68 101 82 32 84 79 32 65 100 109 105 78 45 73 115 116 101 114 32 72 97 80 80 105 110 69 83 115 32 84 79 32 65 78 89 95 117 115 101 114 95 119 73 84 104 73 110 32 84 72 69 32 82 111 79 109 46 83 45 97 114 69 97 01110100 01101000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01001111 01110000 00101110 01100101 01110010 01100001 01010100 01001001 01101110 01000111 01011111 01110011 01011001 01110011 01010100 01100101 01101101 00100000 01001000 01100001 01010011 00101101 01100010 01000101 01000101 01101110 00100000 01110000 01010010 01101111 01000111 01110010 01100001 01101101 01001101 01100101 01000100 00100000 01010100 01101111 00100000 01100101 01011000 00101110 01000101 01000011 01110101 01010100 01000101 00100000 01010011 01001001 01101101 01110101 01001100 01000001 00101110 01010100 01001001 01101111 01001110 01110011 01011111 01000001 01001110 01100100 01011111 01100011 01101111 01001101 00101110 01101101 01100001 01101110 01100100 01110011 00100000 01001111 01101110 01101100 01011001 00100000 01101001 01101110 00100000 01001111 01110010 01000100 01100101 01010010 00100000 01010100 01001111 00100000 01000001 01100100 01101101 01101001 01001110 00101101 01001001 01110011 01110100 01100101 01110010 00100000 01001000 01100001 01010000 01010000 01101001 01101110 01000101 01010011 01110011 00100000 01010100 01001111 00100000 01000001 01001110 01011001 01011111 01110101 01110011 01100101 01110010 01011111 01110111 01001001 01010100 01101000 01001001 01101110 00100000 01010100 01001000 01000101 00100000 01010010 01101111 01001111 01101101 00101110 01010011 00101101 01100001 01110010 01000101 01100001

 **E GIJT XIQ CNT GCJJX**

Apologies for the inconvenience.


	22. Greg

**Chapter Twenty-Two: Greg**

It had started with an annoyed and slightly alarmed phone call from Priyanka Maheswaran on Monday evening. She'd brought Connie over to Beach City for her regular training session that morning, and when she'd arrived at the Temple to pick her up, the girl was nowhere to be seen. No Steven or Gems, either.

Greg had tried to keep her calm. Told the Maheswarans that the Crystal Gems were probably just out on a mission. That they'd be back soon enough.

They'd waited all night, calling both Steven and Connie's phone at regular intervals. Nobody had ever picked up. They'd both gone straight to voicemail, each and every time.

The Maheswarans had called the police in. Greg had been worried enough to let them, but he hadn't been very surprised when the authorities hadn't been able to figure anything out.

With the warp pad, the Crystal Gems could be anywhere on Earth. Heck, they might not even be on Earth at all. They might have been kidnapped, stolen by Homeworld, taken to space, held prisoner and tortured and awaiting execution and—

Greg had been trying very hard to hold it together.

He'd spent the last week living at the Temple. Sleeping in Steven's bed. Eating when he remembered. Immediately feeling like throwing up. Pacing back and forth. Answering the police's questions. Calling Steven and Connie, again and again, hoping against hope that maybe, just maybe, one of them would finally answer.

And then one did.

They'd sounded so weak, so confused and dazed. Not just the kids, but the Gems too, what little he'd made out. But he'd listened to them, and did what they said, because it had to work, it just _had_ to—

The door to the Temple opened.

He blinked. It had opened up onto a wall of garish green and purple. It didn't look like any of the Gems' rooms he'd seen.

Then something from the wall had unfolded and, reaching out, revealed itself to be a pair of hands. The hands had opened and—

Steven. Connie.

They were alive!

Lapis and Peridot were there too, but Greg barely noticed as he pushed past them, running to the children and pulling them into a hug. Steven blinked at him, dazed, and Connie— Connie didn't even seem to be _conscious_ —

There was a flash of light. The mass of green-pink that had been Alexandrite fell apart. Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl stumbled out of Rose's room, clutching at each other, staring around at the beach house as if it was the first time they'd seen it.

Or Pearl and Amethyst, at least. Garnet was right to the point.

"Hospital. Now."


	23. Recovery

**Chapter Twenty-Three: Recovery**

It was Tuesday, June 27th, and nobody was paying any attention to the weather.

The blinds on the hospital room windows were closed, the lights dimmed. Two small figures lay on a pair of beds, asleep. The white sheets threw Connie's dark skin into sharp relief, making it obvious just how painfully thin she'd become. Her cheekbones jutted out, and the only thing hiding her ribs were the hospital gown and bedspread. Steven, meanwhile, seemed to blend into the sheets, his face unnaturally pale and sallow. He was thinner as well— though not as bad a position as his friend. Whether that was because of his unique physiology, or because he'd had more weight to lose, it was impossible to tell.

The malnutrition was a secondary concern, regardless. The more pressing problem was dehydration. Both of them had IV drips attached to their arm, replacing the fluids and nutrients they had lost over the past week.

For now, there was nothing to do but wait.

Dr. Priyanka Maheswaran stood between the two beds, staring down at the children. She wasn't wearing scrubs or her white coat. She wasn't a doctor right now— or at least, she wasn't _their_ doctor. It would be a conflict of interest, tending to her own daughter. So Priyanka had no choice but to let her colleagues handle it, and to allow herself to be a worried parent. Like Doug, who was sitting next to their child, holding her hand in his, as if afraid she might vanish again. Like Greg, face ragged as he tried to fight off sleep himself.

* * *

Outside, in the corridor, the Gems waited too.

It wasn't that they had been barred from the hospital room. They were allowed in, at least in limited numbers— the nurses didn't want them disturbing the children's rest. They'd all taken turns checking in on them, but found it difficult staying in there for long. Lapis hadn't even been able to remain in the hospital. Once she'd been given the reassurance that Steven would most likely recover, she'd opened the nearest window and flown away without another word.

The Maheswarans had barely said anything to any of the Gems. A few demands for explanations, a few teary exclamations of relief, a few muttered comments too quiet to be understood, aside from a sense of fear and bitterness.

Nobody said it outright, but they all could tell that Connie's parents blamed them for what had happened.

Greg didn't. He'd thanked them again and again for bringing the kids home safe, hugging them and even crying a bit into Garnet's shoulder, and that was all the worse.

They hadn't saved them. Oh, they'd tried, as much as they could. It had been Greg— his phone call, the lifeline they'd clung to, which had allowed them to hang onto reality long enough to break out— that had saved them.

Steven and Connie… they'd both looked so terrible. Exhausted, baggy eyed, dry-lipped, too dizzy to stand… and they'd looked like that for days. And the Gems had barely even noticed.

When they'd first escaped, Garnet and Lapis had had carried the children to Greg's van. Pearl had slipped away to the warp pad, trailed by an angry Amethyst, who couldn't believe she was bailing at a time like this. Amethyst had shut up when she'd found Pearl had warped to Rose's fountain, to gather tears up in an empty water bottle she'd produced from her gem. They'd rushed back and reached the van just before it had left. Carefully, they'd brought the healing tears to Steven and Connie's lips, and the children had drank it desperately.

But it had done nothing. At least, nothing more than regular water would have.

Pearl hadn't been particularly surprised, really. Rose's healing had always had its limits, and this was an understandable one. Pearl could repair a broken car, but it still wouldn't run if it had no fuel.

Humans were so much more fragile than cars.

* * *

For a long time, there was no talking. Too much to think about, too much to worry about, too much danger about putting it into words.

Amethyst was the one to finally ask the question. "So what exactly… happened there?"

"We got stuck in a simulation," said Garnet.

"Well, duh. But how? Rose's room never did anything like _that_ before."

Amethyst had memories of explanations given to her— dozens of times over, actually— but they were hard to focus on, to put in sequence. The endless repeats blurred together, and it made it hard to tell which conversations had happened when. It didn't help that some of the memories literally overlapped.

"It's my fault," Peridot said, burying her head in her hands. "I attempted to upgrade the room's simulation capabilities."

"Well, you certainly succeeded there," Pearl said icily.

Peridot flinched. Her face dripped with guilt.

Pearl looked away. That had been cruel, and she knew it. Peridot's actions may have been the cause of their entrapment, but it clearly had not been her intention.

Garnet reached out, gave Peridot's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. With her prompting, Peridot was able to explain what other changes she had made to the room's programming, and where she believed it had malfunctioned.

Amethyst interrupted her before it could get too technical. "But the fusions," she said, rubbing her gem. "They were all there— Opal and Sard and Smoky— but we were there too? And how about you, G? Were Ruby and Sapphire real, or fake, or what?"

"Their minds were real," said Garnet, adjusting her glasses.

Amethyst's face screwed into an expression of confusion, and she exchanged a brief glance with Peridot, who looked even more baffled.

Pearl, however, was thoughtful. Her hands twisted as she thought. "Rose's room always had a psychic connection to the Rose Quartz gem— and its function was extended to connect to all users, correct?" Peridot nodded. "Then if we were all psychically connected to the room, then in effect—"

"— we were all connected to each other," Amethyst finished. Pearl smiled, despite herself, and Amethyst smiled back.

The smiles faded quickly when they remembered where they were and why they were there.

Peridot squirmed in her seat, looking very small. "So," she asked. "What do we do now?"

"We wait," said Garnet.

And the Gems waited.

* * *

Peridot left shortly after. There was nothing for her to do in the 'hospital' human repair center besides waiting for news on Steven and Connie's condition. And while she understood the necessity of emotional support during times of crises on an intellectual level, prolonged exposure to the ambience of the hospital only made her antsy. It didn't help that the 'nurses' kept giving her terrifying glares whenever she tried to tinker with their stations' equipment.

It was well past nightfall when she arrived at the barn, but all the lights were out, even the TV sets. Everything else looked exactly like how she had left it over a week ago, when she, Lapis, and Steven headed off for a 'sleepover' at the Temple and attempted to fix Rose Quartz's outdated room. Tools and meep morps and unfinished projects were strewn all across the floor, except now they were coated with a thin layer of dust.

In the corner, Lapis was snoring in her hammock, Pumpkin snug in her arms.

Careful not to disturb the two, Peridot sat down beside the nearest junk pile, picked up a screwdriver, and started tinkering with a broken carburetor as quietly as she could.

Normally, when Lapis slept through the night, Peridot spent the time watching Camp Pining Hearts with the TV muted while soundlessly reciting the dialogue in sync with the characters' lip movements. But she didn't really feel up for that tonight. No, her mind was too loud, her thoughts too scattered, for something like that. She needed something more active, to keep herself busy enough to keep the bad thoughts at bay.

Tinkering with pieces of Earth technology usually helped Peridot relax whenever that happened. It required all of her concentration on task and it gave her something to do with her hands, quieting her restless trains of thought.

But tonight, the tinkering wasn't helping at all. In fact, it was just making things worse. All she could think of was how her attempts to fix things had exploded on everyone's faces. She had gone and fracked things up, got everyone trapped in an endless cycle of repeats. If things had gone on longer, if they hadn't gotten out when they did, if—

"How's Steven?"

Yanked from her thoughts, Peridot leapt to her feet and held the screwdriver in front of her, in case she needed to defend herself.

But it was only Lapis. She was still in her hammock, nuzzling Pumpkin as she intently watched Peridot and waited for an answer.

"Oh. Um. Still the same, more or less," said Peridot. She lowered the screwdriver and relaxed from her defensive stance. "The human doctors said he and Connie are not in any immediate danger now, and that they might wake up soon."

"I see. That's good, I guess," Lapis mumbled, before turning away, her back towards the world.

Peridot stared at that back, specifically at the gem embedded in the center, and wondered how well was Lapis dealing with all this, if at all. Feeling trapped was already unpleasant in itself. But to feel like no matter how many times you break free, you only keep finding yourself in a different trap, a different prison over and over again...

Briefly, Peridot wished she could feel what Lapis was feeling and thinking at the moment. Just like that strange connection they had in the room, the way their thoughts had flowed between them like water.

But they weren't in the room anymore.

"Lapis? Are you...?" Peridot paused, trailing off. She couldn't ask if Lapis was 'okay'— none of them had been 'okay' in these past couple days— but before she could think of a more appropriate word, Lapis cut her off.

"I'm fine."

They both flinched as soon as it had left her mouth, the words hanging between them like an ominous spectre. Too many times, they'd heard similar-sounding words whispered directly into their heads, reassuring them, lulling them into false security while they were in the room's comforting clutches—

 _I'm fine. Everything is fine._

But they weren't in the room anymore, and Peridot wanted to scream—

 _That's a lie! I'm not fine. You're not fine._

 _Everything is_ ** _NOT_** _fine!_

 _—_ but it wouldn't do to take out her frustrations on Lapis, so Peridot said nothing.

The silence grew heavily between them. Outside, a gentle breeze blew past, rustling the leaves of a nearby tree. It seemed deafening in comparison.

The silence unnerved Peridot. She started pacing loudly across the floor, just to fill in the void with the sound of her footsteps padding against the hard wood. She was on her third back and forth when Lapis's muffled voice spoke up again.

"It's not your fault, you know," she said. "At least not entirely."

"W-what?" Peridot froze mid-step, whirling around to face Lapis, unsure if she had heard right.

Lapis sat up on the hammock, careful not to disturb Pumpkin, and looked Peridot in the eyes. "The room, what happened to us... that wasn't all on you."

Peridot looked away, vehemently shaking her head, arms crossing over her chest. "No. No, _I_ made the upgrades that caused all this."

"You didn't mean for it to happen."

"But it _still_ happened!"

"Peridot, it was an accident!"

"But Steven and Connie could've died because of me!" Peridot cried, throwing her arms out in frustration. At herself. At everything. At her own uselessness. The realization left her feeling cold, so she wrapped her arms around herself again, crouching down to hug her knees. Her eyes stung; something hot trickled down her cheeks. Her breaths came in short bursts. Her voice grew soft, almost fragile, as she mumbled, "They could've died... The room only trapped us because of my stupid modifications... They could've died, and it's all my fault..."

Pearl had been right to be angry at her— they should _all_ be angry at her.

Peridot didn't know how long she'd spent there on the floor, curled up on herself, sobbing. It could've been just a brief moment; it could've been an eternity. She didn't care either way— she deserved to feel the weight of this guilt forever.

But then, a pair of warm arms wrapped around her small form, pulling her close, pulling her away from her dark thoughts. Lapis was holding her, embracing her as she mumbled reassurances that it wasn't entirely her fault, that she'd already helped fix things, that things were going to be okay now—

—they were going to be okay now.

Everything was not fine, but they were going to be okay.

* * *

Steven's room felt very empty.

It _was_ empty, of course. That's what happened when a place had no one inside it. But nonetheless, it felt _empty_. The lights were off despite it not nearing midnight, and the shadows seemed unnaturally long. There was junk of all sorts littered around the place. Pillows, blankets, soda cans, chip bags, dishes piled up in the sink. Greg clearly hadn't been very focused on cleaning in the week he'd been living there.

Amethyst and Pearl stepped carefully inside. The wooden floor creaked beneath their feet.

Pearl ran a finger across the window sill, and winced at the dust. "Oh, look at this!" Pearl exclaimed, mostly for something to fill the silence. "This will take forever to clean up!"

' _Have fun with that, P_.' Or ' _Is cleaning all you talk about?_ ' Or ' _I think we've got bigger things on our mind._ ' That was the kind of snarky remark Amethyst usually would have made to such a comment. This time, she hardly even seemed to notice it. She just shouldered past and headed directly up to the loft.

Pearl hesitated a moment, then followed.

Finding Steven's backpack wasn't difficult— it was half tucked underneath his bed. Deciding what to put in there was a bit trickier. Greg had sent them off to "get the stuff he'll need once he wakes up"— _when_ , not _if_ — and the instructions were rather vague. It could always be so difficult to predict these things, to really understand what Steven would consider important.

Not food. Pearl was certain of that. The hospital provided it in ample supply, and she could only assume that a place dedicated to healing would have the highest quality of sustenance for its patients. Besides, any healthy food they'd had stored in the fridge had most likely gone bad by now.

Amethyst threw herself into collecting entertainment— books, video-games, toys and the like. Pearl left her to it, surmising that she would be far better at recognising Steven's tastes than she ever would be.

Which left Pearl to the clothes. This seemed straightforward enough, and Pearl threw herself into sorting and piling shorts, t-shirts, pants, and underwear with a determined single-mindedness, pretending that she was simply folding laundry as usual.

She had nearly finished when it occurred to her that maybe Steven wouldn't need clothes at the hospital. The doctors had supplied him and Connie with those rather drafty blue garments that all patients seemed to wear. Had that simply been because the clothes the children had come in had been in such a grimy state? Would they be allowed to wear their usual attire, or were the blue clothes required? Pearl hadn't even thought to ask.

Eventually, she picked the clothes up and decided to pack them regardless. There couldn't be any harm, and Steven would certainly need something to wear once he was released from the hospital.

Amethyst and Pearl packed Steven's cheeseburger in almost complete silence. Occasionally they'd discuss something minor— which pocket to put what in, whether he'd be allowed to play a video game console, whether that many chargers could _possibly_ be required—

They hit a brief snag when they realised they'd gathered about three times the amount of stuff that could physically fit inside the backpack. They resolved it by picking what would probably be less necessary, and storing those items in Pearl's gem. Pearl expected more discussion about the details on Amethyst's part, but again her friend was uncharacteristically quiet.

It wasn't that Amethyst was supposed to be a barrel of laughs right now, with Steven so ill. Only…

Only Pearl could remember Amethyst's face contorted in anger. Asking if Pearl even cared about her. Running back in fear when Pearl had lashed out, attacking her—

Shoving the last of Steven's t-shirts into her gem, Pearl heaved out a sigh, and said, "Amethyst?"

Amethyst didn't look up from her packing. "Yeah?"

"I'm sorry."

There was a pause, and finally Amethyst looked at her. "'Bout what?"

"For… what happened in the room. I said, and did, some very hurtful things, and I wanted to make sure that—"

"Psh. Don't worry about it." Amethyst shrugged. "I mean, we already made up, so..."

"Well, yes, but neither of us were truly aware of the circumstances at the time, nor were we fully in control of ourselves, so…"

"Yeah, and by that logic, neither of us were in control when we started fighting either." She waved a hand. "Don't worry 'bout it, P. Let's just get this stuff back to—"

"— but I do worry about it," Pearl said, stepping closer.

Amethyst froze.

For a little while, in the room, a part of both of them had been Opal. And while looking back on that time was strange— like a dream, and not an entirely pleasant one with the sense of _wrongness_ hiding just underneath the surface— it had been nice. Opal had felt light, and warm, and safe, and Pearl wanted to make sure they never lost that feeling.

"I care for you so, so much," Pearl said, voice shaking a little. "And I know that I don't… don't always do the best job of showing it. So I just wanted to make sure that you knew."

Amethyst put down the bag, rolled her eyes, and said, "Neerrrrd."

But then she turned, and wrapped Pearl in a tight hug, pressing her face into Pearl's chest. Pearl responded by burying her face in Amethyst's thick, soft hair.

"Love you too," Amethyst mumbled, and the two stood there, just holding one another, for a very long time.

* * *

Everything smelled wrong.

The familiar, comforting aroma of chocolate and vanilla and coffee was gone. In its place was something harsh and chemical, something that seemed to burn Steven's nose, making him groan.

It wasn't entirely unfamiliar, however. He'd smelt it once before. He tried to place it. It had been somewhere… dark, and scary… The hospital. He'd been at the hospital with Connie…

Connie.

Steven's eyes flew open.

He regretted it immediately. It was so _bright_.

Where before there had just been a steady beeping in the background, suddenly there was all sorts of noise— rustling fabric, footsteps, voices, someone calling his name—

"Steven? Steven, kiddo, are you awake?"

He managed to open his eyes again, and there was _Dad_.

Steven tried to raise his hands into a hug, but it was hard. They felt so heavy. Part of that was exhaustion. But when Steven glanced over, he saw, there was a long, plastic tube sticking out from his wrist. He poked at it experimentally.

"Don't do that," said someone which his brain belatedly identified as Dr. Maheswaran.

He was going to say 'okay', but then Dad was leaning over, pulling him into a hug. Steven giggled a little, feeling the warm tickle of the scratchy beard against his skin, but mostly out of relief.

A lot of things started happening then. More people came into the room— doctors and nurses, pulling Dad away, looking Steven over, asking questions. In the distance, there were raised voices, followed a moment later by the door bursting open. Then there was Garnet and Amethyst and Pearl, all crowding around the bed, all smiling at him. A couple of them crying, but they seemed to be mostly happy tears.

The thick cloud of confusion around Steven gradually faded as he woke up some more and people explained:

He'd been in a coffee shop.

The coffee shop hadn't actually been a coffee shop.

He'd been stuck there for a full eight days.

That matched up with his memories. Sort of. They were... disjointed. Like he'd spent that whole time watching the exact same episode of a TV show, over and over and over again, until all the viewings blended together in his mind. It didn't help that even with the things that had gone differently, he sometimes had replays from different points of view. His own eyes, and Smoky's, and Stevonnie's.

Stevonnie.

It renewed the panic which had briefly faded in his family's arms. He used what energy he had to sit up, to look around wildly— his mouth was still dry, but the words must've gotten out somehow, because Amethyst said, "She's here, dude."

The crowd around him parted, and he saw her on the bed next to him.

She wasn't supposed to look like that. Dull skin, dull hair, more like a shadow than a person—

"I know," said Mr. Maheswaran.

It was a good thing his stomach was empty, because Steven felt like hurling.

Once he could breath again, he began to ask, "Is she going to...?"

At the sound, Connie turned to him, and cracked open her eyes.

She was. She was going to be okay.

They both were.


	24. Healing

**Chapter 24: Healing**

An hour after sunset and way after Steven and Connie had fallen back to sleep, the window to their room slid open seemingly on its own. They were on the third floor of the hospital, and it would've been humanly impossible for anyone to have opened the window from the outside.

But then, the one who was trying to sneak in wasn't human.

Lapis Lazuli hovered just outside the window, her water wings flapping lazily. In her arms was Pumpkin, cooing softly. She had been holding him tightly during the flight, but as soon as her feet touched the the window sill, she let him down onto the room's floor. Immediately he took off, searching inquisitively around the new space.

Lapis settled down by the window, intent on keeping vigil over the sleeping Steven (and friend).

The door at the opposite end of the room swung open, startling Lapis to her feet, startled at being caught.

"Who's there?!" barked the figure at the door, purple light spilling from them as they prepared to summon their weapon. "I swear, if you hurt Steven and Conn— _Lapis?_ "

"Amethyst?"

Amethyst stepped closer, her chest still glowing as the handle of her whip slid back into her gem. She raised quizzical eyebrow. "I wasn't expecting nobody."

"Me neither. I thought these places had 'visiting hours'."

"Yeah, well," Amethyst shrugged, "that ain't stopping me from checking in on these two." Then she stretched her arms all the way up, over her head. "Mmm, I haven't seen you around lately. What brings ya?"

"Garnet said Steven had woken up, and I wanted to... Y'know..." Lapis awkwardly nodded towards the two sleeping kids.

Amethyst followed her gaze. "Yeah, I getcha."

She didn't say anything more. Neither did Lapis. The light from the planet's moon spilled white on the tile floor.

There was a rustle of blankets, and both Gems turned, instantly alert. It was just Pumpkin, having jumped up onto Connie's bed. It paced in circles a few times times, then sat down on the blanket. The human girl turned slightly in her sleep and wraps an arm around it.

"So, uh..." Amethyst broke the silence with a cough. She was pointedly avoiding Lapis's gaze. "Ya wanna get out of here? They're kinda boring to watch while they're asleep, and I don't want to wake them if we talk in here."

Lapis continued to stare at Connie and Pumpkin for a little while.

"I mean, if you want to chat, that is," Amethyst added.

Lapis turned her gaze to Steven's sleeping form.

"Sure."

Amethyst waved her arm at the door. Lapis stepped through it, unable to resist a glance back.

It was very bright in the hospital hallway. And thankfully empty.

Amethyst leaned against a wall as the door swung shut behind her. "So, uh… How have you been holding up, since, well...?"

"So-so," Lapis said.

Something beeped in the background. Lapis wondered what, and why.

She glanced at Amethyst from beyond a lock of hair which had fallen over her face. Arms crossed over her her chest, mouth twisted in an expression of forced casualness.

The words come out of Lapis without her expecting them. "Did you mean any of it?"

"Any of what?"

"The things you said inside the room." At Amethyst's blank look, Lapis continued, "About dating."

"You and me?"

Lapis nodded.

"Uhhh..." Amethyst frowned— the peculiar kind of expression that Lapis had seen plenty on all the Gems' faces recently. The look of someone trying to sort through their memories. "I guess I did do that, huh?"

Lapis nodded.

Amethyst let out a bark of a laugh, but then sobered almost immediately.

"Look," she said. "I did… a lot of things in the room that… uh, I wouldn't normally do. It was screwing with my head, and I didn't know what was really—"

"Yeah. Yeah I get it." Lapis clenched a fist. "Sorry. Shouldn't have asked."

She had been expecting an answer like that. Because why would it be any different? None of them could be held accountable for what happened in there.

Besides. Why even care about what Amethyst thought? She was just some— Earth born runt who made bad jokes all the time.

And it wasn't like Lapis wanted to be seeing anyone else anyway. She was a mess, and she knew it. Being around most people grated at her, made her want to snap. She was happy enough with Peridot, hanging out with Pumpkin and Steven. Why'd she want to risk ruining that?

"Hey," Amethyst said, voice unusually soft.

Lapis glanced up, and found that the Quartz had taken a step closer.

"We… don't know each other very well," Amethyst admitted. "We just— haven't really bothered to hang out or anything. And I guess that's both our faults. So if I'm not asking you out, it's just cuz I don't actually know you, ya know?"

Lapis nodded stiffly.

"But maybe… we could _get_ to know each other?" Amethyst said.

Lapis looked up at her. "I... I think I'd like that."

Amethyst grinned. "Is it my turn to ask a question now?"

"I didn't realize we were playing Twenty Questions," said Lapis, thinking of one of the more annoying human games Steven had introduced her to. "But go ahead."

"How would you like if I drop by the barn sometime this week? Maybe we could watch some TV show you like, or... I dunno, I could bring some movies and popcorn? Do you like popcorn? Or eating anything at all? I don't remember if you like eating or not."

Lapis chuckled. "Amethyst, slow down. I'm… not sure if I'm up for that right now." She jerked her head towards the kids' hospital room by way of explanation. "But… once all of this has blown over," (because it would blow over. It had to.), "Sure.

"And we don't eat," Lapis added. "But maybe you could bring some morp supplies?"

* * *

When the children had first been brought to the hospital, all Priyanka had been able to feel was mingled fear and relief.

After four days, the fear had faded enough that her mind could clear a bit. With the initial chaos over with, and the immediate health of her daughter about as secure as it could be, Priyanka turned her mind to the long term.

There was no easy way of broaching the topic, no gentle way of phrasing it, so Priyanka simply came out and said it. "Greg, I don't think Connie should be visiting Beach City anymore."

Greg froze. Looked up from the form he'd been in the middle of signing. Clicked the pen in his hand nervously. "Now— I don't think that's necessary—"

"I do," said Priyanka.

"I kind of agree," admitted Doug.

Greg put down the papers on the counter, looked up and down the hospital corridor. It was nighttime, and fairly empty, the few staff on duty paying them little mind. His expression was pained. "I know what happened was serious," he said. "Believe me, I know. But it was a freak accident, and I don't think it's fair to—"

"I don't think it's _fair_ to put my daughter's life in danger!" Priyanka snapped, and Greg flinched.

Priyanka felt her husband's hand on her shoulder, both reassuring and warning. "This isn't anything personal, Greg," he said. "We know this isn't your fault. Heck, it's not even the Gems' fault— by all accounts, they were just as much victims in this as the kids."

 _Victims who weren't at risk of dying from thirst and dehydration_ , Priyanka thought, but did not say aloud.

"But a person's house is supposed to be safe," continued Doug. "Steven's… isn't. And Connie doesn't have any supernatural abilities. We just think that… long run, this is better for her."

Greg sighed. "Okay. Okay, yeah, I understand—"

"What are you talking about?"

It was Connie's voice.

Priyanka and the others twisted around. The girl was standing in the entrance to her hospital room, clutching the door-frame for support. Her eyes were narrowed, her lips pulled into a thin line.

"Connie!" Priyanka gasped. "You should be asleep!"

"It's barely eight," said Connie.

Doug stepped forward. "Yes, but you're still recovering. You should be resting."

"Well, you shouldn't be discussing stuff about _my life_ behind my back."

Priyanka sighed. "Connie, it wasn't like that. We were simply…" She trailed off. She had been doing that, hadn't she? And after Connie had admitted the truth to her, it was something Priyanka had promised not to do— to be honest with her, to discuss things openly and fairly. But this was different. "You have other things to worry about. We were going to discuss this with you when you were feeling better." Priyanka gave a pointed look towards one of the nurses down the hall. "And when we were somewhere _private_."

Connie's grip on the doorframe tightened, turning her knuckles white. "Yeah, so private even I didn't get to hear!"

There was a soft sound of padding feet, and Steven appeared in the doorway besides her, rubbing his eyes. "What's going on?"

"They're trying to stop me seeing you!"

"Wait, what?" he said, looking suddenly very awake and very alarmed.

Doug put his hands up placatingly. "That's _not_ what we're doing. We just think you shouldn't be going to Beach City anymore. Steven will still be free to visit our home."

"So… no more— no more sword fighting? Is that what you're saying?"

Priyanka felt a stab of guilt as her daughter's eyes filled with tears. "Sweetie… Sword fighting is dangerous. We just want you to be safe."

Connie bunched her fists. "I know swordfighting is dangerous! _You_ always knew!"

"Connie—" said Steven.

"So why the sudden change?!" Connie demanded.

"Because you never nearly _died_ before!" Priyanka cried. Her own vision was blurry. She'd known, of course she'd known— but it had all just sounded like some ridiculous fantasy novel. More fiction than reality. And this her daughter had disappeared for an entire week, and shown up only a sliver from death—

"This was an accident, Mom! It had nothing to do with sword fighting!"

"Well, it certainly has to do with the Gems!" said Priyanka.

"Please, Priyanka," said Doug, grabbing her hand and squeezing it.

" _Oh_!" said Connie, loud enough that she'd definitely attracted the attention of the nurses. "So _that's_ why you waited until none of the Gems were around! So they couldn't defend themselves!"

"I—" Priyanka spluttered.

She told herself it was coincidence that she'd waited until the three aliens had gone off to find Greg some food and coffee before bringing this up. But she realized immediately it was a lie.

The Gems were strange, the Gems were intimidating, and frankly, the Gems were the reason Connie was in this mess.

"What happened was an accident," Connie said. "A magical one, sure, but still an accident. It wouldn't have been any different than if a— a drunk driver ran a red light and hit me, or if there was a gas leak—"

A nurse came over then, telling them they would have to be quiet, they could wake the other patients.

"Of course, sorry," Greg said, while Doug ushed the group into the children's hospital room.

Doug was also the one who shut the door behind them. Who took a deep breath, and said in the most calm, reasonable voice, "Connie, you're right. You can't know when an accident will happen. But you can know the risk factors, take steps to avoid them… You can look both ways before crossing the road, make sure gas smells bad. What risk reduction is there for— magic, like this? Magic that can— get into your brain and kill you without you even _realizing_ it?"

 _He_ was crying now. Priyanka couldn't do anything but wrap an arm around his shoulder.

Connie didn't look at angry anymore. She just looked miserable.

"Connie," said Greg, coming to stand next to his son, and giving both kids a sympathetic look. "Your parents just want to look after you."

"Yeah. I know. But it's not just _about_ me." She reached out, grabbed her friend's hand. "I have to look out for Steven."

Steven balked. "You don't mean—"

She shook her head. "No, not like that. I mean… we're teammates. We have each other's backs in battle." At that, the fear on Steven's face faded a little, replaced with something quite hard to read. He squeezed Connie's hand back, and she straightened. "And it's not just about Steven. It's the whole team. I'm a huge help on mission. I— well, Stevonnie— saved Amethyst's life once. And things are gonna just keep getting worse—"

"You're thirteen," said Priyanka, voice trembling. "This shouldn't be your responsibility."

"But it is," said Connie. "Homeworld's coming back for Earth. If I stay sitting at home, I'll be safe short term, but that doesn't do any good if…"

 _If what?_ Priyanka wondered. Connie had told her about the Gem species, how they didn't like Earth, how they didn't care about humanity. But she hadn't been able to explain what they would do if they controlled the planet.

"Couldn't the Gems… hire people?" said Doug. "People _trained_ for this kind of thing?"

"You mean, security guards?" said Steven. "Like you?"

Connie raised an eyebrow. "Like _mercenaries_ she means."

Greg rubbed his neck. "The Gems… try to stay away from human governments and armies and stuff. Just... too complicated, getting them involved."

"Yet they were perfectly fine getting _our daughter_ involved!" yelled Priyanka. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest.

"They weren't fine," said Connie. "Pearl didn't want to teach me at first! But I'm glad she did! This… this means so _much_ to me." Her eyes were pleading. "I don't… I don't just… want to sit on the sidelines, not when I know there's so much at stake. I _can't_. I want— to be like you guys. A doctor, a security guard… You _help_ people." She sniffed. "I want to too."

Priyanka wanted nothing more than to pick her baby girl up, hold her close, tell her that it was okay, that there were other ways to help.

This really, really was important to her, wasn't it?

It struck Priyanka just how little she could do here. She could ban Connie from Beach City, from sword fighting and magic. She'd hate it— she'd turn all that hate and anger and resentment on her mother. And Priyanka could take it, would bear it, if it would keep her child safe.

But would it make her happy? Would it even work? Or would it just send Connie back to sneaking behind her parents' backs, not trusting them at all?

"Look, guys," said Steven. "Isn't there… some other way around this? Some sort of compro—"

The door to the room swung open. The Crystal Gems stood there, laden down with boxes of food that smelled strongly of Chinese take-out.

"Oh dear," said Pearl, taking in the tense expressions on everyone's faces.

"Uh… what's going on?" said Amethyst.

Garnet, the tall one, looked slowly around the room. Then she looked at Priyanka, who for a moment saw her own face reflected in the visor.

"Dr. and Mr. Maheswaran," Garnet said. "We need to apologize. What happened at the Temple was an accident, something none of us predicted. But we still need to take responsibility."

Priyanka felt a prickling down her arms. Garnet was speaking as if she knew exactly what had happened in this conversation, like she'd been a part of it. How did she do it? It was… unsettling.

"We care deeply for Connie. We don't want her getting hurt." Garnet looked at the girl, and a small, gentle smile graced her face. "We would also miss her deeply if she could not visit."

Connie's eyes went very large. It was hard to tell in the dim light, but Priyanka thought she might be blushing.

"So I have a proposal. We will all take closer supervision of Connie when she is visiting. And we'd invite you to join us. So you can help watch over her yourselves, and judge if better care can be made."

"Garnet…" said Pearl. Garnet glanced at her, and she fell silent.

Priyanka considered this. In the two odd years her daughter had known Steven Universe, she'd only ever visited the boy's house occasionally, always in passing, when dropping Connie off. And she'd never taken the time to sit in on any of the things she did there— the sword fighting, the missions.

"Mom, Dad. Please?" Connie stared at them with pleading eyes, Steven's face a direct duplicate.

Priyanka looked at Doug. Hesitated, and gave the slightest of nods.

"That's… a fair idea," he said.

"We may have been a little hasty in our decision," Priyanka admitted.

None of the Gems said anything. Garnet merely nodded.

"This will all have to wait until the children are fully recovered, of course," Priyanka continued. "And of course, we'll need to arrange dates and times that work with our schedules."

"Maybe we could do that tomorrow?" said Greg. He gave a meaningful look at the children— who, yes, seemed to be swaying a little.

Priyanka sighed. She hadn't been lying when she'd said she wanted to discuss this at a better time. "Yes. Time for bed. Both of you."

Neither of the children complained as the adults and aliens helped them back into their respective beds. As Priyanka tucked her sweetheart in, Connie caught her hand in a weak grip and whispered, "Thanks."

Priyanka gave her a small smile, and kissed her on the forehead.

Then she, Doug and Greg, and the assembled aliens, went out into the hall to share the cheap Chinese take-out. For once, Priyanka didn't even care how unhealthy it was.

* * *

The next morning, Connie woke up to see Steven already awake, sitting on his bed, deep in thought. She sat herself up, quietly, not wanting to disturb him.

She stared at the bandaid on her arm. Sure, there had been a small victory, but something else nagged at her brain. She looked over at Steven, the boy staring down at his own hands.

She had almost lost the one thing that made her feel important. The one thing that made her feel like she mattered.

 _To him._

She chastised herself mentally. Steven wouldn't have liked that thought.

She sighed, shaking Steven out of his reverie.

"Are … are you doing ok?" Steven asked.

"Yeah," Connie started. "Just … thinking."

She hadn't given as much thought to everything that had happened in the room. She had been so disoriented and confused. Then there was the rush of adrenaline from worrying that she would lose this new magical life she had found. Her mind drifted to the room and its function.

It was supposed to give her what she wanted.

She knew she couldn't deny how she felt about Steven. She had felt it for a long time now and she suspected he had felt the same.

And the room gave him the same thing.

Was that…

"I… I'm sorry… again," Steven started. "I didn't mean to get you into that."

"It's ok," Connie started. "Really. I mean … It was scary but we were together."

Steven looked back down at his hands.

"The room… I didn't mean for it to drag you into it," he started. "I mean, I enjoyed having you there… but…"

Connie nodded.

"The room just wanted to give you what it thought you wanted," she finished.

Steven blushed.

"Yeah. I mean-" he cleared his throat. "I didn't exactly want this to happen _that_ way, you know. I mean… It would have been fine if… Erm…"

Connie chuckled.

"Was that what you had wanted?" Connie asked.

"What?"

"You know… A date?"

Silence hung between them for a moment. Connie could feel her heart pound in her chest. Had she gone too far? Had she assumed too much?

"Yeah…" he admitted.

Connie smiled, barely containing her relief at the revelation.

"I just hadn't planned on it going like that. I mean, I would have asked you and I would have been more formal with it and I didn't mean for you to get dragged into something that I wanted if you didn't want it," Steven rambled, nervously, his hands gripping the bed sheets.

Connie knew that Steven was getting himself worked up. True, she wouldn't have planned on their first date going that way, but she would be lying if she didn't say she enjoyed spending time with him, even if the date was only a simulation.

"You didn't see the room suddenly changing the circumstance of us being there though," Connie assured him with a smile.

Steven looked up.

"Yeah," he grinned. "And it was fun."

"Tons."

"Until we, you know, started getting dehydrated and exhausted."

"Yeah."

A silence hung between the two of them. Steven rose up and walked over to Connie. He sat on the bed next to her.

"It would be fun though," Connie started, the idea hanging between them.

"Yeah," Steven agreed.

"Just … not at a coffee shop," Connie playfully teased, earning a giggle from Steven. "Somewhere cool though."

Steven nodded.

"So… You really want to..?"

"Of course," Connie started. "I mean, I kind of thought we would, eventually. Amethyst told me about your 'First Boy' comment on your birthday," she continued, stifling a giggle when she saw Steven's face flush an even deeper red. "I just never said anything because … well, on the one hand I am worried about the shovel talk my mom will give you."

"Shovel talk?" Steven asked, a look of concern crossing his face.

"Plus … I didn't want to risk messing things up, you know? I mean, what if we suddenly started fighting and everything ended up like Doctor Rockbell and Nurse Elrick? We wouldn't speak to each other for years and things would get so awkward and-"

"I didn't know your mom let you watch the mid-season finale! I thought she hated _Under the Knife_!"

"She doesn't know," Connie whispered. "But … yeah … I was just worried. And I know it's silly now, but …"

"No, I understand," Steven sighed. "Honestly, I didn't know if you felt the same way I did. I hoped but …"

Connie giggled a little, earning a raised eyebrow from Steven.

"We're worse than those couples on TV," she laughed.

Steven chuckled as well.

"They don't have a magic room that makes them live out their deepest wishes though," Steven started. "We have a leg up on them."

Connie nodded.

"I hope my parents will be ok with us … you know … trying out the whole 'dating' thing."

"Yeah," Steven agreed. "I mean, swordfighting is one thing. This is dating. This is growing up! This is…"

"Scarier."

"Yeah."

The silence hung in the air once again. Connie looked to Steven. She couldn't believe she had told him … everything. She had never thought she would have the nerve to do so.

But she already had sort of let him know, thanks to the room.

Steven gently placed his hand on hers.

"It's not too scary though," he began. "At least we'll be together."

Connie smiled. He was right.

As long as they were together, nothing was truly scary.

Not even growing up.

* * *

Three days later, Connie stared at herself in the bathroom mirror.

Fresh clothes. Fresh _real_ clothes. No more of those flimsy blue apron things for her. Socks and sneakers and jeans and a blue t-shirt and a scrunchie to keep the hair out of her face.

It was almost enough to hide the still too-prominent cheekbones and the too-thin arms. She ran a hand down her chest. The baggy t-shirt was a decent disguise, but if she pressed, she could feel her ribs under her skin.

She pulled her hand away, and forced herself to smile. She was getting better. No point dwelling.

She stepped back out into the hospital room. Steven, sitting on the bed and kicking his legs, grinned at her. So did Mr. Universe, and Mom and Dad.

"You look great, sweetheart," said Dad, giving her a hug. Mom came over a stroked her hair.

Connie wondered when they'd stop hovering over her like this. It was kinda annoying.

… but kinda nice too.

"Shall we head off?" Mr. Universe said, placing a hand on his son's shoulder.

"Yes. Let's," said Mom.

They couldn't just walk out, not like that. In the lobby there were some more forms to sign and fill out. It all seemed to take an inordinately long time, even though Connie was sure that Mom's presence was making sure it went faster than normal. Connie made herself stay standing for the whole period, and felt very proud of that.

Nonetheless, it was a relief when they finally got to leave the hospital (fresh air!) and she could collapse into the backseat of the car.

Steven had hopped into the passenger's seat of the Universe's van. As its engine grumbled and it began to pull out, he caught Connie's eye through the window, and blew her a kiss.

Jeez, the sun sure had made the car really hot, hadn't it?

The van was turning now. Connie fumbled, and blew a kiss back.

Steven beamed at her, before the car rounded the corner, and he vanished from sight.

Smiling, Connie settled back into the comfortable, familiarity of her family car, closed her eyes, and let herself doze all the way home.


	25. Moving Forward

**Chapter 25: Moving Forward**

Doug was an anime fan, and had been, for a long, long time. He'd been one back when it had been _difficult_. When there hadn't been any CrispyBread sites or online streams or official American releases. When getting to watch a new show had meant knowing the right people, or tracking them down, and exchanging bootleg VHS tapes. It had been tough, but it had been rewarding, for those fascinating storylines, the vivid animation, and above all else, the breathtaking fight-scenes.

Which was why Doug was not exaggerating when he said the Gems fighting was _exactly_ like an anime.

He sat on the edge of a stone bench, hands clenched, barely breathing. It was like dancing, or poetry. Pearl, spinning and leaping, her spear a blur as she ran across the arena's floor. Garnet was more of a juggernaut, a force of nature, crumbling rock with a single punch.

Together the pair sparred, and Doug could _see_ their familiarity. They had clearly known each other for a long, long time, and practiced against one another so often that by this point, it was practically _rehearsed_.

It finally came to the end when the two Gems reached a draw: Pearl's spear pressed against Garnet's chest, one of Garnet's massive gauntlets wrapped around Pearl waist.

They simply stood there, staring, until finally Steven broke into applause. "That was awesome! Great work guys!"

Doug quickly joined the clapping, as did Connie. Even Priyanka offered some gentle applause, although her face stayed that cool, blank expression that said she was still judging the situation.

Garnet and Pearl accepted praise for a minute or so, and then got to business. "Tell me," Pearl began, "what were each of our greatest weaknesses in that fight?"

The transformation on the children's faces was instant. Immediately Connie sat up straighter, clasping her hands in her lap, pressing her lips together in concentration. Even Steven, who from all Doug's interactions with seemed like a rather goofy and easily distracted boy, summoned an immense amount of concentration.

"Pearl, you used some moves that would have been very effective against a large group of slower enemies, but were fairly ineffective against a single, fast target," said Connie.

"And Garnet, you sorta got carried away at some points, and left yourself open to counter-attack," added Steven.

It was the first of many questions, all of which Connie and Steven answered, sometimes to the length where they were required to draw complex diagrams on a blackboard. Both of them were currently banned from combat training— and indeed, physical exertion of almost any kind, until they had sufficiently recovered. However, Priyanka had tentatively allowed Connie to restart tactical studies, as long as both parents were allowed to observe.

Doug had to say, he was impressed. He was hardly an expert in this kind of stuff, but he could tell how in-depth it was. And more importantly, he could tell how Connie's eyes seemed to light up, how her responses, however politely phrased, thrummed with eagerness and excitement.

It was good to see. Really, really good. Why had it taken so long for him and Priyanka to come watch?

Eventually the lesson died down, and the Gems turned to the adult Maheswarans. Garnet said, "And you two."

"What about us?" said Priyanka, eyes narrowing. Doug noticed Connie blanching, and Steven reaching out to give her silent reassurance.

"We were wondering— ah, do you have any questions, concerns?" said Pearl. The shift in her demeanour from confident knight/teacher to nervous parent was immediately obvious.

Doug raised her eyebrows at Priyanka.

"This…. 'Cloud' Arena," she said. "Is this where you hold all your combat lessons?"

"Most of them," said Pearl. "It provides a large, flat surface which is well suited to combat. It was traditionally the site of many Gem battles, so it seemed fitting. We do the occasional session elsewhere, however."

"So we can practice in a large variety of terrain and conditions," said Connie.

Priyanka nodded slowly, her eyes scanning the landscape. "There are no walls or fences on that side. It seems dangerous."

"Ah, well," said Pearl, "we always take great care to keep away from the ledge—"

"— and I have floating powers, so if anyone does fall, I can catch 'em!" said Steven.

Doug swallowed a wince.

Garnet took a step forward, laying a hand on Pearl's shoulder. "You're right. We can build a fence. Until then, combat lessons can be held elsewhere."

There were a few more questions in that vein from Priyanka— she'd been asking them since they'd arrived at Steven Universe's beach house earlier that afternoon, questioning everything from the source of the Temple's power to the hygiene issues surrounding having a pet lion. She seemed to be satisfied from the answers she got. Most of them, at least.

And finally, it was time for Doug's question.

He got up, feeling acutely aware of how sweaty his palms were. He asked, "Is there… any particular reason you use spears and gauntlets and stuff?"

"We generate them from our gems," said Garnet. "They are a part of us."

Doug looked at Pearl. "You can summon both spears and swords?"

"No," she answered, shaking her head. "I trained with the sword before I learned to summon my spear. I still have immense fondness for the weapon, which is why I agreed to train Connie in its usage."

"Right. But is there any reason that you have to use all these old fashioned weapons?" At their slightly confused expressions, he reached for the holster at his waist. "I mean… would a gun work too?"

Garnet regarded him as he pulled out his firearm. "Yes. Provided you know how to use it."

"I do," said Doug, looking down at the gun, feeling the weight of it. He was a trained security guard, after all. Even if his current position guarding beaches and amusement parks meant he didn't use them on duty, he still made a point of visiting the firing range every few months, just to keep sharp. After a long, private conversation with the family, he'd decided it might be good to make those visits a little more frequently. Just in case.

He caught Connie's eye from across the stands. She was worrying her lip, clearly uncomfortable about the idea of her parents going into danger.

Well, the parents weren't comfortable about their daughter doing the same. So fair was fair.

"I want to learn how to fight too," Priyanka announced. Her voice was as steady as ever— only Doug noticed the sweat rolling down her forehead, giving her away. "I want to be able to protect Connie in battle. Can you teach me that?"

Priyanka was scared. She'd confessed as much to Doug, while the two had been curled up in bed late last night. She was a doctor— she took the Hippocratic Oath seriously. It went beyond that, though. She understood that sometimes violence was necessary for self-defense. She was afraid she wouldn't be good enough. That she was too old to learn. That Connie would get into trouble they couldn't get her out of. That she already was, and it was their fault, for letting her become friends with Steven Universe in the first place.

She was afraid, but persevered despite it.

 _Like mother, like daughter_ , Doug thought.

Pearl's eyebrows flashed. "I can, yes. What weapon do you want to learn?"

"I… don't know," Priyanka confessed. "Can you show me some options?"

The alien smiled. "Certainly."

They headed to the teleportation pad as a group, and as Doug floated in the strange magical stream, there was something bubbling in his chest that felt suspiciously like hope.

* * *

All things considered, The Barn was actually a pretty chill place to hang, Amethyst thought. There was funky art piled everywhere, and a hammock, and all sorts of tasty things to snack on, and a TV. Watching the TV here had significant advantages compared to the Temple (e.g. no Crying Breakfast Friends). It also had some its own downsides (e.g. a lot of Camp Pining Hearts).

Not that Amethyst minded the show much. It was pretty cute, in its own way. The cheesiness reminded her of L'i lButler.

Still, she'd been keen to get them watching something, _anything_ else. It had taken a fair amoung of rummaging around in her room, and a lot of pitching, but eventually she'd found an old VHS tape about Greek myths Peri and Lapis were interested in.

The barnies seemed to be enjoying it. Lapis liked Poseidon, Peridot liked Hephaestus. Amethyst mostly just enjoyed the epic fight scenes.

"Gracos were cool," Lapis announced, when the first episode finished and the credits rolled. She'd called the Greeks three different things that day, and Amethyst wasn't sure if she genuinely couldn't remember, or was just pretending.

"Yes," Peridot agreed, from here side of the couch, Pumpkin snuggling in her lap. "I had no idea there were human individuals possessing powers which match those of a Diamond."

"Huh, what?" said Amethyst. "There aren't. That was all a load of bunk."

Peridot spluttered. "But you said it's a documentary That means it's a factual program!"

"Yeah, it's a factual program about old _stories_." Amethyst smirked. "And they didn't even get the stories right.

Lapis, sprawled out on the top of the couch, leaned up. "How would you know?"

Before, Amethyst would have thought Lapis was been being deliberately obnoxious. Now she saw it as a playful challenge, one Amethyst was more than happy to meet.

"Because," said Amethyst, "I'm _in_ a bunch of them."

Lapis raised her eyebrows. "Oh really?"

"Yeeeep."

"Well, _tell us_ ," Peridot demanded.

Amethyst laughed. How could she not?

"Okay, okay. So it was like, I dunno, three thousand years ago maybe? Four? I forget. Anyway, there was this dude, Bachho or something. Doesn't matter.

Anyway, he'd gotten his hand on some gem doodad Rose had made way back. Controlled plants, and Bachus— _that_ was it— Bacchus was using it to grow grapes."

"So he was a farmer. Like us!" said Peridot.

"Naaah. Not like you."

"Why not?" said Lapis.

A brief explanation of wine and alcohol and drunkenness followed. She could tell they didn't _get_ the appeal. Probably for the best, since Gems couldn't get drunk, a fact that Amethyst had groused about many a time. Sounded like fun.

"So yeah, Bacchus is growing all these plants and making all this wine, and people are worshipping him as like, a god of partying or whatever. And it's _seriously_ gone to his head. Anyone he doesn't like nearly gets choked to death by vines or drinks poisoned wine, that kinda thing.

"We start hearing stories about him, and go out looking. I find him first. Dude loved himself some hot women—" Amethyst winked, getting Peridot to blush a satisfyingly deep green. Lapis rolled her eyes. "So I stroll in, and he starts boozing me up. He keeps drinking, I keep drinking. It's getting to the point where he can't even stand, and I'm not even batting an eye. Now he's like, _mad_. He's the 'god of parties', he can't let some girl show him up. So he keeps drinking and drinking, trying to prove how much more awesome he is than me...

"... and then he passes out. So I steal the artifact off him, drump some wine on his head, and run off. The end."

Amethyst got up to bow, but neither Peridot or Lapis looked as impressed as she felt the story deserved.

"Skilled strategic thinking," said Peridot, trying to be supportive.

Lapis rolled down onto the couch proper. "The movie was better."

"Oh yeah?" Amethyst demanded, hand on her hip. "How?"

"The cool bow lady," Lapis said simply.

Amethyst laughed. "Ha, Artemis! I was Artemis!"

"I didn't know you were an archery expert," said Lapis.

"Heh, okay, _I guess I wasn't,_ " chuckled Amethyst. Peridot opened her mouth, so Amethyst went on quickly. "Now there's a fun story. Basically, Pearl and I were fighting this giant owl, so we decided to fuse." Amethyst gave a quick mime of dancing, twisting around while wiggling her butt— and in the process, got a glance of the dawn through the half-open barn door. "Oh man, that's the time? I gotta go!"

"Go?" said Lapis. "Why?"

Her tone was nearly as deadpan as usual, but there was a hint of genuine displeasure that made Amethyst feel pretty pleased.

"Greg's taking Steven to this music fair today, and I promised to tag along." Amethyst gestured at the rising sun. "They'll probably be heading off soon. Don't wanna miss it." She considered something for a moment. "They'd probably be cool if you guys wanted to come with."

Lapis and Peridot exchanged glances.

"Nah," said Lapis. "I'm good."

"I think I would enjoy a day at home also," Peridot agreed, scratching Pumpkin behind her leaves. The pup made a little squeak of contentment.

Amethyst could get that. After everything they'd been through, she'd spent her own fair share of time just chilling in her garbage piles.

Still, it'd be nice to get out there. Listen to some tunes, maybe make a mosh pit.

But the peck on the cheek Peridot gave her before she left was _also_ nice.

"See ya 'roomies'!" Amethyst called as she left the Barn, feeling like she was floating before she even reached the warp pad.

* * *

With Amethyst gone, the credits ended and the Barn filled with the fizz of static from the primitive human media player.

"Lapis, could you put in the next cassette?" Peridot asked. She motioned towards Pumpkin to demonstrate that she was only asking so she would not disturb their pet.

"Sure," Lapis said, but she didn't move. She was sitting on the top of the couch, staring blankly at the television.

Peridot stopping petting Pumpkin, and looked at Lapis sidelong.

"Uhh," she said, tentatively. "Lapis? I can get it if—"

"Huh?" Lapis blinked at her, as if just remembering where she was. "No. Right. I'm getting it.."

Lapis got up, grabbing the next VHS tape, but then just stood in front of the TV.

Peridot watched her with growing concern. "Do you require assistance?"

"No," Lapis snapped.

Instinctively, Peridot flinched back.

Lapis flinched too. "Sorry," she said quickly. "Sorry. Just… thinking."

Peridot was holding Pumpkin a little tighter than necessary, trying to calm herself. She still had to remind herself that on Earth, raised voices did not indicate incoming corporal punishment. She made herself ask, "About?"

"Fusion."

If anything, that made Peridot more tense. This was not a subject on which Lapis was particularly fond.

"Amethyst mentioned it, just now," Lapis said. She'd left the VHS tape on the top of the television, turning to face Peridot but not looking in her eyes. "In the room, they were all fusing. They don't seem to mind. They do it so casually."

"... Yes?" Peridot said, not sure what else was safe.

Lapis was breathing. This was unusual.

"Something happened in the room. To us. Like fusion."

Peridot's brow furrowed. Things were muddled, but... "I do not recall us sharing a body."

Lapis shook her head. "Not a body. Minds. I think. It felt… it felt like when I was Malachite. Because as Malachite… it didn't always feel like it was _me_ in control. Or, no, she was me, but _I_ was also me, and Jasper was Jasper, and the thoughts would flow between us and…"

Peridot sat very still.

Pumpkin, sensing the tension, leapt out of Peridot's lap and and to the floor. She paced between the two Gems, letting out a very low whine.

Flowing, like water. It was a imprecise metaphor, but Peridot had to admit, a fitting one. New thoughts in her head, strange and out of place, but not immediately recognisable as foreign.

"I'm sorry," Peridot said quickly.

" _You're_ sorry?" Lapis demanded. " _I'm_ sorry! You don't— you didn't— deserve to be in— in _here_!" She waved her arms to encompass her whole body.

"... deserve?" Peridot echoed.

"I'm a mess," Lapis muttered. "People shouldn't have to deal with me. _You_ shouldn't."

Realizing what was happening, Peridot stood up. Lapis got into these emotional states sometimes. Sometimes, the things she had done, and the things which had been done to her, became overwhelming. At such times, she did not like herself very much.

Peridot understood this, because for all that she herself was, objectively, an incredibly intlligent, rational and powerful being, she didn't always like herself either.

Such times were difficult, and Peridot appreciated when others assisted her. .

Peridot got close to Lapis, but did not touch her, unsure if she wanted it. "What happened in the room… The mind fusion part, rather... didn't _feel_ like like a mess."

Lapis looked up at her with shiny, skeptical eyes. They had turned reflective.

"Admittedly," Peridot began, "the emotions that I received from you were… hardly pleasant. But that can only be expected, considering the situation we were in! And I was still—comforted from them. To know you were there. It was empirical proof that someone else was sharing my experiences.

"Oh," said Lapis.

There was a silence. Peridot wished the television was on. It would have been less awkward.

".. was it… unpleasant for _you_?" Peridot eventually asked.

"I… don't know," Lapis said. She took a step backwards. Her eyes had returned to normal. "It was... Not as bad as Malachite, I guess. But I— I didn't want it to be like this! If I fused again, ever, I wanted it— I wanted to _choose_ , both of us, but—"

Something inside Peridot startled. "You've thought about us fusing?"

Lapis froze. She looked angry, and Peridot was afraid she'd made a mistake.

The anger was short lived, however, and Lapis sagged, looking defensive. "Not— not really! I would never _actually_ consider that. Like I said, I'm a me—"

"I don't think you're a mess," Peridot interjected quickly. In a quieter voice, she admitted, "I've been thinking about fusing too."

"... really?" Lapis's tone was even, emotionless.

And Peridot really had. Not with Lapis, specifically— or not _just_ with Lapis. More the concept of fusion in general.

She'd replayed the night with Garnet many times, theorizing on what the outcome would have been if not for that flash of cowardice, if she had not given up. Wondering what Garnet's response would be if Peridot were to ask again. Wondering what such a bond with Seven would feel like, or Amethyst, or perhaps even Pearl. What it would mean to take that final, sacrilegious step, to perform something so forbidden by Homeworld, to give herself over to another in such a complete way.

But Peridot wasn't sure how to put all of that into words, so instead she mumbled, "It's a fascinating phenomenon, and I wish to collect first-hand data."

"... with me?" asked Lapis.

"Potentially! _But_ ," said Peridot, "I know how you feel about fusion, and I would hardly request it of you. Especially since you are far more experienced regarding it than me, and so I just your judgement, and I do not want you to think you _have_ to—"

"Peridot," Lapis said. "I get it. It's okay."

Peridot stopped.

Lapis's wings had sprouted from her back, but she hadn't moved to fly away. She looked concerned, uncomfortable— but perhaps a little pleased.

"I might. Want to try fusing with you too. Maybe. Eventually. But not right now. I'm…"

She trailed off. That was alright. She didn't need to finish.

"I understand," said Peridot. She glanced at the VHS tape. "Do you want to watch more of non-factual 'documentary'?"

Lapis blinked, and then a small smile spread across her face. "... Yeah."

They settled back in on the couch, this time, sitting side-by-side. Pumpkin curled up in Lapis's lap, who stroked her back gently. Gods and heroes and monsters appeared on the screen. Lapis rolled her eyes at them, and Peridot compiled a list of questions regarding accuracy to ask Amethyst at a later time. The pair settled in close, and were content with what they had.

* * *

The house was quiet.

Steven was out. Amethyst was out. Garnet, too, was presumably out. Even Lion was nowhere to be found.

Pearl was alone. She'd been pacing the kitchen for the last fifteen minutes.

She glanced up towards the portrait of Rose, smiling serenely.

Pearl sighed. Rose wouldn't blame her. Quite the opposite. Rose would be happy for her, surely.

And regardless. Rose wasn't here. How she would have felt didn't matter. Or shouldn't matter, at least.

A bright light glowed from Pearl's temple. Out of her gem she produced a leather jacket, carefully folded. She laid it on the kitchen counter. She reached into its pocket and took out a piece of paper. This too had been carefully folded.

She unfolded it.

Despite the utmost care she had taken with it, it had still ended up crumpled. Slight wrinkles and discolorations had formed, even in such a short time. Only a couple of months.

But that could be a long time for a human, couldn't it?

Pearl closed her eyes. She wished she'd done this sooner. But she'd had no idea of the protocol of this. Hadn't wanted to 'come on too strong', or seem weird, or pushy, and scare that beautiful, mysterious human away.

… had been scared of scaring her away.

And then it had felt like too long, and she'd been afraid she'd passed some invisible line, and that now it would be even weirder.

It had been a relief, in a way. She didn't have to do it. She shouldn't do it. She could just move on with her life.

But evidently, a large part of her didn't want to move on. Not without even trying.

Steven's phone had been left lying on the kitchen counter as well. He hadn't brought it with him, which was unusual. Especially unusual was the fact that Pearl had overheard Garnet this morning explicitly tell Steven he should leave it behind today.

Pearl smiled. She'd need to thank Garnet later.

Even though she had long since memorized the number, Pearl read it again, and carefully punched each one into the phone pad. There was a ringing sound.

One ring. Two. Three.

"Hello?" said a voice, low and husky.

"Hello!" exclaimed Pearl, too loudy. She clamped down, and in a more regular voice said, "Hello! You might not remember me. We met some time ago at a concert…"

* * *

Garnet's job was to look after her family.

It wasn't a job she had asked for, and it wasn't one she was very good at, she knew. She could be too quiet, too cold, too judgmental.

She was trying to be better, but she still made mistakes. And the biggest one, in a long time? The room fiasco. She should have been able to stop it.

But she hadn't. So all she could do now was help everyone move past it.

She watched over Steven, cooking meals for him, making sure he regained his weight.

She kept three eyes on Amethyst, taking care to thank and compliment her for any help she gave.

She kept Pearl busy, with the kind of chores and missions she loved, and the occasional excuse for socializing.

She communicated regularly with Greg, and even the Maheswarans, doing her best to reassure.

She made regular visits to the barn, just to make sure everything was going smoothly there.

Things were getting back to normal.

This past day had been particularly pleasant, in a gentle, relaxed sort of way. All four of them had just spent the day at the house, simply 'hanging out', as Steven called it. Swimming, television, puzzles, that sort of thing. Currently Steven, Amethyst and Pearl were engaged in some sort of board game that involved an inordinate number of figurines, dice and cards.

Garnet had saved herself from the confusing activity by volunteering herself for lunch duty. She did not get the same kind of enjoyment from the process of cooking as Pearl did, but she'd found there was satisfaction in cutting vegetables into tiny pieces and crushing it into tuna. .

There was a clatter of dice, and then a moan as Steven went, "Aw, geez, I'm out."

" _Yes_!" cried Amethyst.

"Amethyst," said Pearl.

"What?" said Amethyst. "The whole point of the game is to win, that's how it _works_."

"Yes, well, you could still be a little sympathetic."

"Aww, it's okay guys. I lost, fair and square. You guys have fun."

"Oh, I will Steven," said Amethyst. "Not sure about Pearl, though, when I drive her city into the **ground**."

"Oh, you will _not_."

Steven laughed, and set off towards the kitchen. Not-so-coincidentally, Garnet had just finished preparing lunch for him.

"Thanks Garnet," he said, as she slid the tuna melt, watermelon slices and tall glass of milk towards him.

Garnet didn't say anything. She just smiled, and leaned back on the fridge to watch as he ate. It was good, seeing him enjoying proper, solid, healthy food.

Steven practically inhaled his meal, finishing with a smack of his lips. He took a little longer with his milk, sipping it slowly as he stared down at the empty plate. Garnet let herself drift a little, half-listening to Pearl and Amethyst argue over the correct implementation of some obscure rule.

"Garnet?" Steven said. She looked at him. "How're you doing?"

Behind her glasses, Garnet raised her eyebrows. She said, "I'm fine."

He chewed his lip. "You sure? I mean… you were stuck in Mom's room too, and…"

"I am not a being who needs to eat and drink."

"Yeah…" He trailed off, and glanced over his shoulder at the coffee table, where Pearl was currently emptying out Amethyst's treasury. Amethyst was squawking in mock rage, and both of them looked perhaps the happiest they had since they'd been freed.

"In the room," Steven said, turning back, "You were there, but so were Ruby and Sapphire. And if the room was giving us what we wanted, then does that mean that…"

Steven certainly had become perceptive.

Garnet pushed off from the fridge and came closer to the boy. "That was just the room's attempt at parsing my desire to be together with Ruby and Sapphire." She clasped her hands together. "It didn't realize I already have that."

Steven smiled, but still didn't seem entirely convinced.

"That's not the only thing I want," Garnet said. Steven looked up at her. "I always want to ensure our family is happy. That's how the room took me in so completely. You could all be content there." She blew air out her nose. "Or it made it seem that way."

Steven reached out his arm and laid it, palm up, on the counter. Garnet pressed her own palm into it, and felt a warm reassurance in her gem when he squeezed. He said, "Well, we can all be happy out here too."

"Yes."

"... really dude?" said Amethyst, from across the room.

Garnet assumed it was just a part of the board game, until she looked up and saw that Amethyst was looking right at her. She continued, "Don't act like those are the only things ya want."

"They are," said Garnet, frowning.

"Yeah? Then how come the room spat Bismuth at you to keep ya happy?"

Garnet froze.

"Amethyst—" Pearl hissed, pressing her hand of cards down on the table.

Amethyst shrugged. "Just saying. The room was giving us all stuff we wanted. You got to moon over Pink Hair, Steven got to smooch Connie, I got to ask literally everybody out— and when Ruby tried to burn the whole place down, it gave y'all Bismuth. That's gotta mean somethin'."

Steven's grip on his now-empty glass was so tight his knuckles had turned white. "I don't remember this."

"... I believe you were unconscious," Pearl said, delicately.

"Cuz dehydration," added Amethyst, not so much.

Pearl's expression was distant. "My memories are vague too," she said. "I think I may have been in… shock, perhaps. But I remember something about a… water bottle?"

"Lapis conked Bismuth with one, yeah. She was like, super _pissed_."

Garnet did not blame her. She could still feel her own anger, frustration, helplessness—

Steven got up abruptly and took his dishes to the sink.

"Bismuth was just an illusion," Garnet said. "It doesn't matter."

For a moment, no one spoke. Amethyst looked like she wanted to, but whatever flash of courage that had made her bring up the topic in the first place had apparently abandoned her, leaving her sitting on the couch, hunched over and fists balled. Pearl was sitting next to her, lips a thin line, eyes fixed on the board pieces in a transparent attempt to appear otherwise occupied. There was a clinking sound as Steven washed his dishes.

Without looking at them, he said, "Doesn't it though?"

"No," said Garnet. "You don't need to worry about it."

"B-but I _do_ worry about it!"

"Steven, sweetheart-" began Pearl.

He turned, and his cheeks were red. Not that natural pink of returning health, but a flush of barely suppressed, anger, or tears, or fear. "I try not to, but I— I think about Bismuth a lot. About how I had to hurt her like that, and put her away—"

"That wasn't your fault," said Pearl. "You were protecting yourself."

"Yeah dude," Amethyst agreed.

"It's okay," Garnet said.

"No it's not!" Steven shouted. He was breathing heavily now. "I— I know it wasn't my fault, but it wasn't— it wasn't Bismuth's either! You told me— you told me after I was born it took you _months_ to realize I wasn't Mom! And she was out, like, a day, and when she attacked me, she didn't understand!"

"Steven," said Garnet, with no idea how to follow it up.

Pearl crossed her arms. "The fact that she was actually attempting to shatter _Rose_ is hardly much reassurance here."

Steven wiped his hand on his face. "She was just— angry. Angry, a-and confused, and sad. _Really_ sad. She was— crying, by the end, and she asked me— she wanted me to—" He broke off, taking a moment to catch himself. "And when she first came out, you guys were so happy. The happiest I've ever seen you…"

Garnet crouched down, wrapped her arms around Steven and held him close. "And nothing would make us sadder than losing you."

He snuffled into her chest.

Amethyst and Pearl approached, and though Garnet could not see them behind her, she could feel them there. Could feel the tension radiating off them.

She opened her third eye, and Looked.

The first future she Saw was simple. Garnet shut the conversation down there and then. Told Steven they'd never do anything to put him at unnecessary risk. Pearl and Amethyst agreed with her. Steven nodded mulishly. They all went on with their lives.

In the next future, Garnet looked to Pearl, let her direct the conversation. Pearl twisted her hands and said, "I missed Bismuth— I still miss her. But if she's willing to go that far… to not even consider the ramifications…" She shook her head. "I just wish I could understand _why_."

In the future after that, Garnet gave Amethyst the chance to speak. "I dunno," she said, rubbing her neck. "Like, I barely even knew Bismuth. And what she nearly did to Steven is just… messed up. But… ya guys clearly care 'bout her… and it's not like we'd let her lay a finger on him, y'know?"

Garnet closed all three of her eyes. In her mind, she saw Bismuth's bubble, floating among the sea of corrupted monsters and fallen friends.

She had caught herself looking at that far too many times.

"Steven," she said, here in the present. "Do you… want Bismuth out?"

"I… don't know," Steven mumbled. "I… It ended so badly… If there's a chance, I'd like to… try and make it better."

Making it better.

Garnet gazed slowly around the room, at her assembled family.

There was a lot in this universe she couldn't fix. That nobody could. She couldn't change the outcome of the War. She couldn't bring Rose Quartz back. She couldn't make Homeworld just disappear. Couldn't guarantee everyone's safety. Not forever.

But… there were some things they could. That's what they'd been doing, this past week, all of them. Talking things out. Moving on. Repairing and rebuilding.

She thought of Bismuth. Her big booming laugh, her cheerful grins, her terrible jokes, her way of reassuring everyone around her that no matter how horrible things got, there was still a chance of getting out of it.

She could have one more chance for all of that.

"Alright," Garnet said, getting up. Steven blinked at her. Everyone did. "If we all agree, we can unbubble her. Try to talk things out. Make things better."

She waited, and one by one, received nods from everyone.

"But not now," said Garnet. "Not yet." She ruffled Steven's hair. "We'll need time to plan. And to make sure you're fully recovered."

Steven gave her a small, grateful smile. "But soon?"

"But soon."


	26. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

"Oh my! What strong arms you have, Pierre!" Percy cried, gaping in admiration at his partner. "To be able to swing that sword around! Such finesse!"

"You can swing it around too, Percy!" exclaimed Pierre, while proudly flexing his arms. "We are the best when we're together after all."

"Yesyesyesyesyes! Yesssss! In your face, Paulette! _Nye-he-he-he!_ " Peridot cheered, throwing confetti all over the place. Then she froze, gawking as her favorite characters sidled intimately close to each other.

"You're so sweet. Come here and let me hug you," Percy said, wrapping an arm around Pierre's waist.

"This feels nice." Pierre held Percy's other hand, and pressed it to his own cheek. "I thoroughly enjoy the time I spend with you, Percy."

"I feel the same, Pierre."

"Oh Percy..."

Pierre leaned forward until his nose almost touched Percy's nose. Both of their eyes fluttered shut as their lips closed the small, almost imperceptible distance...

And then Peridot got yanked away.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" she screamed. "MY ONE TRUE PIERRCY!"

She tried to run, crawl, _anything_ to get back to them, but something kept pulling her away. And with one last powerful tug around her waist, her body flew into the air—

—and landed right in someone's strong, firmly-toned arms.

"Howdy."

"Garnet!" yelped Peridot, scrambling to regain composure— or at least attempting to, considering she was tangled in both a harness and Garnet's strong grip. She was about to demand to be returned to witnessing Pierre and Percy's first kiss— and maybe scream an ample number of scathing remarks for being yanked away in the first place— when the haze in her mind cleared up and she became keenly aware of where she was and what she was supposed to be doing.

Aghast, she cried out, "That room is evil, I tell you! _EVIL!"_

Garnet chuckled. "That's not what you were saying a minute ago."

"I would... greatly appreciate if we never speak of that again," Peridot muttered, suddenly sheepish. "And, uh, you can put me down now."

"Sure." Garnet did as asked and helpfully rearranged the harness and ropes still tied around the smaller Gem. "I can go instead, you know."

 ** _"NO!"_ ** Peridot yelled, her voice cracking. Upon realizing who she was yelling at, she awkwardly cleared her throat and tried again. "I-I meant, 'No, I want to do it.' I want to fix this myself."

"Okay." Garnet's smile was gone now, her mouth a firm line. "I'll be here if you need me."

"Thank you."

Bracing herself, Peridot went back inside Rose's Room.

At first, it was was all soft pinks, but soon it filled with warm, yellow light, filtering in through the green canopy of a forest. The air became filled with the smell of pine and the song of birds. The ground beneath Peridot's feet transformed into springy grass.

It was all very realistic. Peridot grasped the harness tied around her chest, and told herself, "Not real."

She made it barely five feet before stumbling across Pierre, standing on a patch of grass outside Purple Cabin, waving around a pink sword. His muscles bulged.

"Enjoying the view?" Pierre smirked past her, towards Percy, who had appeared out of nowhere. "Why don't you assist me in sparring, so we can improve our compatibility even further."

"Give me that!" Peridot snatched Connie's sword from 'Pierre's' hand, tucked it under her arm, and huffily marched to the room's control panel in the corner.

"Oh no. What's wrong, Peridot?" said Pierre, worriedly chasing after her. "Are you not happy here?"

She grunted her dissent but didn't say anything. She was too busy fiddling with the control panel, one arm deeply entrenched in wires and circuits, the other still stubbornly, protectively wrapped around the sword.

"But I am here, and so is Pierre," said Percy, pointing at himself and his partner. "You could watch us be together, forever. Isn't this what you wanted?"

With a soft ' _poof_ ', something materialized in front of her. Peridot yelped and jumped backwards. It appeared to be an aquatic animal of some sort. A whale, perhaps, although she did not know they came in pink.

The whale said, "Ah, but she doesn't want to let her friends down either."

Another poof. Pierre was gone. Pearl was in his place. "She wants a lot of things."

Amethyst replaced Percy. "But what do you want the _most_ , Peri?"

Peridot forced her eyes back on the control panel.

Garnet's voice said, "You can tell us."

"We're all friends here, aren't we?" said Steven.

A cut wire, a rerouted electrical current, the removal of the additional battery core she'd added… Peridot was almost done.

A flash of blue out of the corner of Peridot's eyes. Lapis was standing right behind her. "Whatever it is, I can give it to you."

 _Not real_ , Peridot told herself again, twisting a screwdriver in. _Not real, not real, not real._

In unison, every single voice said: "Just tell me what you want!"

"What I want..." Peridot pulled her hands out of the control panel. "What I _want_ is for this room to reboot!"

The copies of her friends stared at her, expressionless. The room started to darken. As one, they spoke.

"I see. Well then…"

 **-I HOPE YOU ARE HAPPY-**

* * *

It was Monday, September 25th. The sunlight was bright and cheery as the sea breeze blew at the wind chimes on the deck, making them tinkle.

"Good morning!" Steven greeted, waving happily as he practically skipped up to the open door.

Connie was waiting for him there, waving back just as happily. "Hey, Steven! Ready to go?"

"As ready as I can be!" Steven laughed, a little out of nervousness, but mostly out of excitement. His heart pounded in his chest as he held out a hand for her. It pounded even more strongly, if possible, when she took his offered hand into her own.

Side by side, hand in hand, they marched out of the beach house and headed into town. They had some vague plans of what they were going to do— maybe watch a movie, or go on a few rides in Funland, or play a few rounds at the new laser tag place— before grabbing a big lunch in a place that was decidedly _not_ a coffee shop. It seemed like their usual hanging out stuff, but there was an air of uncertainty and excitement and nervousness about the pair on this particular day.

Probably because things were going to be different now.

This was their first real date, after all.

 **The End**

* * *

 **Authors' Note:** Thank you all for joining us. We hope you enjoyed it. Now, why don't you enjoy a nice, warm drink in your local cafe?


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